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Sultana: History Ahoy
The Bay's Bloody Past ■ Paranormal Pursuits

EDITOR'S

NOTE

Where The Heart Is

1 n her lyrical introduction

the concept of "creative non-

Fellows video project, he

H to a Sophie Kerr Prize-

fiction" and spent countless

traveled through Slovakia

1 winning portfolio of es-

hours in libraries and news-

and the Czech Republic —

says, senior Stephanie Fowler

paper offices to research a

ultimately arriving in

characterizes her fellow East-

project titled Crossings; A

Auschwitz — in search ot his

ern Shore natives as complex

Journey Into God's Country.

family history-. In locating

and conflicted hut with "a

In four resultant essays she

relatives, both living and

desire to he exactly where we

puts herself and the reader in

dead, Jacob found the heart

are. If we know anything,"

the mind of a people who are

of his family, still beating

Stephanie writes, "we know

hardened by racism, econom-

proudly in the aftermath of

where home is."

ics and political strife. For

the Holocaust.

In many ways this state-

this issue, we excerpted from

We believe this issue's

ment characterizes the

"Sons of the Chesapeake." In

chorus of student \'oices is an

Washington College commu-

reconstructing an incident

appropriate celebration ot

nity as well. During their

from the infamous "Oyster

the Class of 2001 and a fit-

years here as students and in

Wars," Stephanie details the

ting commemoration of the

a continuing relationship as

traumatic ruin of one family

Washington College experi-

alumni, some find a home

in the battle over the Bay's

ence. In a multitude of ways.

here in Chestertown and

most precious resource.

each student spends his years

view themselves and the

No visitor to Chestertown

here discovering where home

world ever after through the

could miss the giant mustard

is. As T.S. Eliot so beauti-

lens of that experience.

hull of the schooner Sultana

fully reminds us in "Little

To celebrate our 219*

tied up at the town's water-

Gidding," "... the end of all

Commencement, we decided

front. Inspired by the two-

our exploring/Will be to ar-

to present the voices of three

year construction of the his-

rive where we started/And

graduating seniors. Whether

toric replica, Kees De Mooy,

know the place for the first

it be the re-creation of a his-

this year's winner of the

time." Wa\'e after wave of

torical incident, the tracking

George Washington Medal

eager minds arrive on the

of a ship's voyage or the trac-

and the Non-traditional Stu-

hanks of the Chester. In four

ing of a family, these writers

dent Award, took a journey

years of exploration, journey,

explore aspects of "home"

back to the 18* century to

discovery and redisco\'ery.

and find a sense of them-

track the various exploits of

they find a home.

selves and their personal his-

the original Sultana. He

— MDH

tory through scholarly and

wasn't content to pore over

imaginative journeys.

records and ship's log entries.

In classes with Robert

but also made a pilgrimage to

Day and Melora Wolff,

ever^' mentioned port of call.

Stephanie Fowler discovered

both here in the Chesapeake
watershed and in England.

Jacob Rititer's pilgrimage
was more somber and more
personal. As part ot a Junior

^^^^^^ig^gy^Cc^--^

VOLUME XLIX NO. 3
SUMMER 2001
USPS 667-260

STAFF
Editor

Meredith Davies Hadaway M'96

Managing Editor

Marcia Landskroener

Art Director

Diane D'Aqumo Landskroener '76 M'81

Editorial & Production Assistant

Jodie Taylor

Class Notes Editor

Carol Tait
Editorial Consultant
Kevin O'Keefe '74
Contributing Writers
John Buectner '89
Sarah Feyerherm

Lou Noce

Printing and Mailing

Whitmore Print and Imaging

Original Design hy
The Magazine Group. Washington, DC.

Washington CoUege Magazine (USPS 667-260)
is published quarterly by Washington
College, 300 Washington Avenue,
Chestertown, Maryland 21620, in November
(Annual Report Issue), December, March, and
June. Periodical postage paid at
Chestertown, Maryland and at other offices.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
Washington CoUege Magazine, 300 Washington
Avenue, Chestertovm, MD 21620-1197.
Copyright 2000. Washington College.

Address correspondence to Waskingion Colkge
Maga^ne, 300 Washington Avenue,
Chestertown, MD 21620 or by email to:
meredith.davies.hadaway@washcoU.edu
(Telephone: 1-800-422-1782. ext. 7268.)
Website: www.washcoll.edu
PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

ABOUT THE COVER: Lmdsay Foster '01,
a graduating English major, demonstrates the
exuberant spirit of the Class of 2001 on
Commencement day. Photo by Melissa
Grimes-Guy.

FEATURES

Diary Of The Schooner Sultana 16

This year's George Washington medalist provides a glimpse of 1 Sth-
century history through his research on the schooner Sultana.

Kees De Mooy '01

Sons Of The Chesapeake

Senior Stephanie Fowler recreates the infamous "Oyster Wars"
in these excerpts from her Sophie Kerr Prize-winning portfolio.

Stephanie Foivler '01

In Search Of A Family's History

An international studies major searches for his roots among the
ashes of the Holocaust.

Jacob Ritzier '01

DEPARTMENTS
The Reporter

Commencement highlights; UM honors President Toll; Oh\er
Sacks on creativity; "Fakespeare" debuts at the Inner Harbor.

Faculty/Staff Achievements
Portfolio

"Page 27" is one of a series of "constructions" by Jim Disette '71.

Alumni Update

Reunion recap; Alumni elect Denton and Flato to Board; New-
alumni directory in the works; Tea Party raft race redux.

Class Notes
Currents

Senior Dennis Wilson on South African "restorative justice," the
spirit of "ubuntu."

13
15

Giilese iVlagazirie

COMMENCEMENT, p. 2

FAMILY HISTORY, p. 24

ALUMNI UPDATE, p. 27

WASHINGTON-COLLEGE- MAGAZINE / SUMMER

THE

REPORTER

AP Editor,
Filmmaker
Address
Graduates

KEVIN NOBLET 75, a
seasoned journalist
who has led two
Pulitzer Prize-winning inves-
tigative projects, and Tamara
Tiehel Stedman '86, an
Academy Award-winning
documentary filmmaker,
made the journey home to
their alma mater to speak to
the 241 graduating seniors
who made up the Class of
2001. Both received Alumni
Citations for excellence in
their fields.

For Noblet, a highly re-
spected reporter and editor
with the Associated Press
who prefers fishing to fan-
fare, it was a bit frighten-
ing— "like standing out on a
jetty all alone with a storm
raging around me." He had
graciously agreed to give
commencement remarks
when writer Ray Bradbury
cancelled his plans to appear.
The 80-year-old master of
science fiction and fantasy
was too ill to travel from
California.

For Stedman, a former
real estate agent and flight
attendant who finally found
her true calling in film, the
moment was poignant. "1 got
a bit teary-eyed walking up
that brick walk a second
time," she said.

The day before, at a sym-
posium sponsored by the
Alumni Association, both

had talked about their col-
lege experiences and the
paths they had taken since
leaving Washington College.
Both credited their professors
with instilling in them a de-
sire to write well.

"This was such a great ex-
perience for me," remarked
Stedman, who applied to just
two schools — Washington
College and the University
of Maryland. "1 remember in
my freshman year 1 overslept
for a German exam, and as 1
was racing to class I saw Dr.
[Joachim] Scholz coming
down the stairs. He saw me,
smiled and said, 'Ah, 1 was
just about to call you!' 1
don't know it that would
have happened at the Uni-
versity of Maryland."

Noblet recalled Spanish
and literature classes that fu-
eled his desire to write and
his yearning to see the world.
"I couldn't wait to get out of
college," he admitted. "1
rushed out — without gradu-

ating— and it was a big mis-
take. 1 eventually earned my
degree somewhere else, but it
never gave me the sense of
community Washington Col-
lege did."

Assigned by AP to posts
in Latin America and the
Caribbean from the mid-
1980s through 1993, Noblet
covered stories that included
the fall of General Augusto
Pinochet in Chile, drug wars
in Colombia and political
turmoil in Haiti. For six
years he was AP's deputy in-
ternational editor in New
York, and he initiated the in-

Dennis Wilson invoked the spirit
ot Ray Bradbury in warning his
classmates ol the looming
dangers ol human disconnection
and the "shared dialogue of
silence" between institutions of
higher learning and local grade
schools that could benefit from
open communication and
mentoring programs.

Tammy Tiehel Stedman '86.
Susan Stobbart Shapiro '91 and
Kevin Noblet '75 greet President
John Toll before commencement.

vestigative project that won
the news agency a Pulitzer
Prize in 2000 for exposing a
massacre of civilians by inex-
perienced U. S. troops in the
early days of the Korean
War. His staff also won a
Pulitzer in 1995 for coverage
of the genocide m Rwanda.

S U M M E R . : 0 0 1 / W .'S S H I N I.'. T I

' L L E G E • M .A c; .^ Z I N E

He now is AP's deputy busi-
ness editor in New York.

Last spring, Stedman he-
came the first Washington
College alumna to win an
Academy Award. She and di-
rector Barbara Shock ac-
cepted Oscars tor their film
"My Mother Dreams the
Satan's Disciples in New
York." The 30-minute com-
edy was based on a real en-
counter between Shock's
mother and the Hell's Angels
hikers who were her East Vil-
lage neighbors. After gradu-
ating with a degree in inter-
national studies, Stedman
became a scriptwriter with a
small video production com-
pany near Philadelphia and
then entered the American
Film Institute in Los Ange-
les, CA, where she produced
"My Mother Dreams."

"My whole life I've ■
watched the Oscars," she said.
"For me, it was the pinnacle 1
hoped to achieve 'some day.'
When our film won the Palm
Springs Festival, we were eli-
gible to submit it for Acad-
emy nomination. It was a
dream come true to stand up
there on that stage."

She told the graduating
class not to worry, even if
they didn't ha\-e their whole
lives planned out quite yet.
"Washington College pre-
pared me in ways 1 didn't
even realize."

Nohlet took an informal
approach to his commence-
ment remarks, in which he
asked the graduates several
questions and promised not to
sound like their parents. "Was
it fun? Was it hard? Did you
make friends? Were there any
surprises? Did you stan to get
a sense of who you are ?"

He said that their educa-
tion was a great experi-
ment— and one that was far
from over.

As the graduates braved
chilly temperatures and a
light drizzle, several senior
honors and prizes were pre-
sented.

The Alumni Association's Award
for Distinguished Teaching went to
Clayton Black, assistant professor
of history.

The George Washington
Medal, recognizing the great-
est promise of understanding
and realizing in lite the ideals
of a liberal arts education,
went to Cornells "Kees" de
Mooy, a history major. De
Mooy also received the Na-
tional Society ot the Colo-
nial Dames of America
Award, the Phi Alpha Theta
Award and the Non-Tradi-
tional Student Award (see
his story on page 16).

The Jane Huston
Goodfellow Memorial Prize,
awarded to a science major
with "an abiding apprecia-
tion of the arts and humani-
ties," went to Kyle Elizabeth
Geissler, who majored in bi-
ology and psychology. She
also received the depart-
ment's research award.

The Sophie Kerr Prize,
awarded to the graduating se-
nior demonstrating the best
literary promise, went to
Stephanie Fowler, a 22-year-
old English major from
Salisbury', MD. Fowler's win-
ning submission is a 150-
page book of creative nonfic-
tion titled Crossings: AJowr-

In recognition of John Toll's
contributions to the field and his work
to build the physics program there,
the University of Maryland named an
academic building for him.

ney into God's Country. (See
story on page 20.)

The Louis L. Goldstein
'35 Award, given in recogni-
tion ot unusual interest, en-
thusiasm and potential in the
field of public affairs, was
presented to Seth William
Gabriel and Kara Beth Lee,
both political science majors.

Lanae Elizabeth Arnold, a
psychology major, won the
Eugene B. Casey Medal in
recognition of her outstand-
ing scholarship, character,
leadership and campus citi-
zenship. She also received
two departmental awards —
for promise in the field ot psy-
chology and for outstanding
ability and achievement in
the biobehavioral sciences.

Dennis Wilson, a history
major who gave the senior
address, received the Henr\-
W C. Catlin Medal tor
scholarship, character, lead-
ership and campus citizenry.
He also received the Knapp
Memorial Prize in History.

The Clark-Porter Medal,
given to the student who has
most enhanced the quality of
campus life, went to JiUian
Joy Matundan, president of
the Student Government
Association. Matundan ma-
jored in political science and
drama.

www W A 5 H C O L L E D U

Gold Pentagon awards for
meritorious service were pre-
sented to Donald Holdren
Jr., a music and drama major,
JiUian Matunden and Mark
Hubley, assistant professor of
biology. I

UM Names
Physics
Building For
John Toll

IN A PRACTICE hearken-
ing to grand, old univer-
sity traditions, the Uni-
versity ot Maryland, College
Park renamed its physics
building in honor of Wash-
ington College President
John Toll during a ceremony
held in early May. The ges-
ture acknowledges Dr. Toll's
important contributions as
the former physics depart-
ment chair at Maryland and
as former president and
chancellor of the University
ot Maryland System (now
the University System of
Maryland).

"In baseball, Yankee Sta-
dium is rightlv known as

WASHINGTON. COLLEGE- MAG.", 21 NE / SUM.MER-

'The house that Ruth built.'
In the same way, our depart-
ment should he known as
the 'The department that
Toll built'," said physics de-
partment chair Jordan A.
Goodman dunng the cer-
emony.

After earning a B.S. de-
gree with highest honors in
physics from Yale in 1944,
Toll served in the Navy dur-
ing WWII. In 1952 he com-
pleted his Ph.D. in physics at
Princeton, where he helped
establish what is now the
Princeton Plasma Physics
Laboratory. In 1953 he be-
came chair of Marshland's
physics department, which
was broadened to create the
astronomy program. Thir-
teen years later he left to
take over the presidency of
the State University of New
York at Stony Brook. In
1978 he returned, first as
President and later as Chan-
cellor of the expanded Uni-
versity of Maryland system.

Toll was a Guggenheim
Fellow, has held leadership
roles in dozens of organiza-
tions, and has received na-
tional and international
honors and honorary de-
grees. He pioneered the es-
tablishment of relations be-
tween the State of Mar^'land
and China as one of the first
university presidents to visit
China in the 1970s.

In physics he is recog-
nized as a leader in develop-
ing the modern approach to
dispersion theory and its ap-
plication to problems on el-
ementary particle physics.
Upon Toll's leaving the
Chancellor's Office in 1989
and returning to the Depart-
ment of Physics, the Board
of Regents conferred upon
him the status of Chancellor
Emeritus. In addition to his
presidential duties at Wash-
ington College, he also
ser\'es as a part-time physics
faculty member in the Uni-
versity of Maryland's College
of Computer, Mathematical

and Physical Sciences.

Last year Toll also was
chosen as the distinguished
Marylander for the Year 2000
by the University of Mary-
land chapter of the Phi
Kappa Phi Honor Society. •

Professors
Awarded
Emeritus
Rank

Two LONGTIME pro-
fessors at Washington
College, Patricia
Home and Michael Malone,
were feted at the Hynson-
Ringgold House in May,
when both were granted fac-
ulty emeriti status.

Home, professor of sociol-
ogy, retired after 38 years of
teaching. Malone, professor
of economics, retired in
1999.

Home joined the faculty
in 1964. She was named as-
sistant professor in 1970, as-
sociate professor in 1973 and
full professor in 1987. She
chaired the department of
sociology from 1988 to 1992,
and was the recipient of the
College's Lindback Award for
Distinguished Teaching in
1988. A dedicated scholar,
she spent her last sabbatical
researching the historical so-
ciology of Kent County.

When she admired the

Catharine Clarke '03 finished first
in a regional scholarship
competition.

German sociologist Max We-
ber, she took several German
courses in order to be able to
read his work in the original
language. In the classroom,
her students admired her tre-
mendously for asking the im-
portant questions, for believ-
ing in them and for challeng-
ing them to excel.

Michael S. Malone joined
the faculty in 1973. He
served as acting chair of the
department of economics
(1973-75) and as chair of the
division of social sciences
(1975-1978). After launch-
ing the new department of
business management, he
sen.-ed as its chair (1983-1987).

A specialist in
microeconomics, public fi-
nance, labor economics and
international economics, he
has shared his expertise with
several organizations and uni-
versities, both in Mar\-land
and abroad. He was awarded
two Fulbright teaching schol-
arships in Africa — one at Moi
Uni\'ersit>' in Kenya and an-
cither at Uni\'ersir\' of Cape
Coast in Ghana. After retir-
ing from teaching in
Chestertown, he accepted a
position as professor and de-
partment head at Sultan
Quaboos Uni\'ersit>' in Oman.
Most recently, he was a \-isit-
ing professor at the Unu'ersity
of the Western Cape. >

Music Major
Wins St.
Andrew's
Scholarship

C.-\THARINE CLARKE
'03, a music major in-
tent on a career as an
opera singer, has won a cov-
eted scholarship to study in
Scotland next year. Clarke,
the daughter of music profes-
sor Garr\- Clarke and Melissa
Naul Clarke '75, was ranked
first among 18 finalists in the
regional competition spon-
sored by The St. .Andrew's
Society of Philadelphia.

The St. .Andrew's Socien,'
awarded Clarke one of four
$12,000 scholarships given
each year to support the study
of Scottish culture, arts, his-
tory' and heritage at Scottish
universities. Clarke has cho-
sen to study languages, art
history- and voice at the Uni-
versity of St. Andrew's.

Donald McColl, assistant
professor of art histor\\
ser\'ed as Washington
College's liaison and coordi-
nator of the St. Andrew's
Scholarship program, and
guided Clarke through the

Economics professor Michael
Malone (at left) and sociology
professor Pat Home, now both
retired, were honored in May.

SUMMER.

i H I N G T O N ■ C O L L E G E ■ M A C .'S Z 1 N E

W WW W A S H C O L L E P U

application and interview
process. Applicants from
schools including Swarth-
more, Haverford and Penn-
sylvania State University
were judged on academic
performance, extracurricular
activities, defined course of
study and strength of charac-
ter.

"Washington College is
very proud of Catharine, as
both a music major and an
art minor," said McCoU.
"She competed against some
of the very best students
from the Mid-Atlantic re-
gion and proved that our stu-
dents and academic depart-
ments truly compare with
the best."

Clarke is thrilled at the
prospect of studying abroad.
"I'm excited to be able to
live in a foreign countr\' and
to be able to study and con-
centrate on other things I'm
interested in, particularly
languages that are so impor-
tant for the study of music.
I'll be taking Russian, sec-
ond-year Italian and German
literature."

She also intends to catch
up with friends and family,
and do some traveling. "1
have a friend who goes to
school in Switzerland, my
great-uncle lives in Spain,
and we have family friends in
England," she says. "I'm sure
it will be a wonderful experi-
ence." I

Goalie Wins

NCAA
Scholarship

IT IS DIFFICULT to deter-
mine where Toby Wilmet
'01 shone brightest at
Washington College — in the
classroom, in the art studio
or on the hockey field. At
the end of her college career,
the humanities and art major
from Dalton, PA, walked

away with a post-graduate
scholarship that recognized all
her accomplishments — the
NCAA scholarship. It is one
of 22 such scholarships
awarded to Di\'ision 111 stu-
dent-athletes across the nation.

Wilmet will use the
$5,000 award for post-gradu-
ate studies — perhaps anthro-
pology, an interest piqued
during her studies abroad. In
her junior year, she spent the
spring semester at Rhodes
University in South Africa,
where, in addition to her
comparative studies of rock
art, she volunteered e\'er^'
day at the Amasanga Daily
Bread & Trust, working with
school children m a poverty-
stricken neighborhood of
Grahamstown. Her experi-
ence in South Africa later
became the basis for her se-
nior art show, a culminating
artistic exercise for the dual-
sport athlete.

At the athletic awards
banquet, Wilmet received
the Senior Athlete Award in
recognition of her contribu-
tions to the athletic program
during the past four years. A
Student Athlete Mentor and
a member of the SAM
Council, she has been active
m organizing programs for
athletes and this year serxcd
as a Character
Coach at
Gamett Elemen-
tary School. In
addition to her
contributions in
field hockey —
she earned MVP
honors this
year — she also
excelled on the
Softball diamond
as the team's
starting catcher.

Toby Wilmet was
one of 11 Division I
female athletes
granted a
scholarship for
graduate study.

Last year, Wilmet was
named a National Field
Hockey Coaches Association
First Team All- American
and became the first field
hockey player from Washing-
ton College to earn first
team honors. A four-year
starter for the Shorewomen,
she stepped into the lineup
as a freshman and quickly
became the premier goal-
keeper in the Centennial
Conference.

Since then, she has led the
team to a combined record of
53-21, a Conference Champi-
onship and appearances in
both the NCAA and ECAC
Championships. >

Junior Lands
Internship at
Harvard

M.MIHA HASHMI, a
junior premedical
student, collects
knowledge and bits of infor-
mation the way most people
pick up lint. In the best pos-
sible sense, she's a sponge,
absorbing facts, making con-
nections and using a network
of professors, friends, ac-

Since meeting Ben Carson at
Washington College last fall.
Maliha Hashmi '02 is determined
to become a pediatric neurologist.

quaintances and perfect
strangers to move closer to-
ward her goal. And anyone
who has spent a few minutes
with this sparkly, self-confi-
dent young woman has no
doubt that one day she will,
indeed, become a pediatric
neurosurgeon.

Seeking as broad an expe-
rience as possible, she al-
ready has found her way into
several hospitals. She has
volunteered at the Uni\'er-
sity of Pennsylvania
Children's Hospital and at
the Kennedy Krieger Insti-
tute at the Johns Hopkins
Medical Institute. She has
worked at the King Fahd
Hospital and the Nora Hos-
pital of Jeddah in Saudi
Arabia. In December, her
Junior Fellows project took
her to the Mayo Hospital in
Lahore, Pakistan.

But she caught the shiny
brass ring in April when she
found out she was accepted
into a seven-week honors re-
search program at Harvard
Medical School. Hashmi, a
biology and psychology ma-
jor, will nin clinical trials on
patients for the head of the
anesthesiology- department at
Harvard's affiliate hospital,
Massachusetts General. The
only undergraduate accepted
into the program, Hashmi
will be working with two

WASHINGTON. COLLEGE. MAC. A ZINE / SUMMER. 2001

first-year medical students
from Harvard on a project
looking at anti-receptors for
neuropathic pain.

"Sometimes, people with
spinal injuries have such a
low threshold tor pain that if
someone even touches them,
it hurts," Hashmi says. "Dr.
Christine Sang, the head of
the clinical trials program at
Harvard Medical School,
hopes to develop a new drug
therapy that blocks that su-
persensitivity."

Hashmi heard about
Sang's research program
through a friend who is
studying netirosurgery at
Harvard. He knew of Dr.
Sang's work, and knew she
was looking for highly moti-
vated students. "He referred
me to her," Hashmi says,
"and 1 kept calling her until
she called me back. 1 sent
her my information, and
then we talked for two hours
on the phone. 1 told her 1
knew I was at a disadvantage
because 1 couldn't come to
meet her in Boston, but that
1 was confident I could do
the work. When she told me
I'd be working 80 hours a
week — in addition to the
clinical trials I'd be helping
organize data — 1 told her
that was no problem." ►

Board
Approves
Tuition
Increase

IN AIMUL, the Board of
Visitors and Governors
announced a $1,000 in-
crease in tuition for the com-
ing academic year. The total
basic cost for full-time stu-
dents will be $28,040, or 3.7
percent over total charges for
the current year.

The increase has been ap-

HEARD AROUND CAMPUS

On The News Business

"In my business virtually everything is for sale. It is a different uni-
verse than the one 1 so naively entered some 30 years ago. The news
business has changed and so have we. Back then, we were more or less
in the business of delivering the news. Now we're in the business of
delivering audiences. Back then, the line between news and entertain-
ment was clear-cut. It was church and state. Now those lines are hope-
lessly blurred. If the truth be told, we spend far more time in the tele-
vision news on how an interview looks than on what it says."

-NBC National Correspondent Bob Faw on "The Future of Network News"
April 18, 2001

plied to tuition alone
($21,750), while the basic
charges for room ($2,600),
board ($3,140) and student
fees ($550) will hold constant.
"The 3.7 percent increase
is the second lowest percent-
age total increase for tuition,
fees, room and board at
Washington College m the
last 26 years," said College
President John Toll. "The
College intends to hold
down cost as much as pos-
sible while continuing to en-
hance the quality of educa-
tion and to improve facilities

for our students."

Earlier this year, the Col-
lege opened Goldstein Hall,
a new academic facility, and
renovated the Student Cen-
ter in Hodson Hall. The
College presently is planning
for the design and construc-
tion of a major addition to
the science complex and has
hired an architectural firm to
develop a series of short-term
and long-term projects to ad-
dress facility needs in the
fine and performing arts. The
College also is continuing
renovations ot the existing

L ^■U*'

student residential spaces, in-
cluding Queen Anne House
and CuUen Hall, and will ac-
celerate the construction of
tour new student residence
halls on the north end of
campus.

Even with tuition inching
higher each year, tuition dol-
lars cover only two-thirds of
the cost ot educating a stu-
dent. Toll remarked. The
balance is made up through
gifts to the College, t

Cowperthwait
Posts Win In
Art Show

WH.AT STARTED as a
black and white
photographic image
of a parking meter exploded
into a wall of mailboxes, tire
hydrants and other metallic
objects, rendered in various
colorful media, lill
Cowperthwait, one of six
graduating art majors, cap-
tured the Senior Art Show
this spring with her collec-
tion of pop art in oils, pastels

Jill Cowperthwait '01 used
symbols ot an urban landscape as
Inspiration tor her senior show.

.« Ll M M E R - ; 0 0 I / » A S H 1 N G T O N C O L L t (J E M A G A 1 I N i

\V W W , W A S H C O L L E D U

and silk screens.

While she has always
tended to focus closely on
the image without incorpo-
rating a lot of background,
she wanted to experiment
with several media to get dif-
ferent effects, she noted.
"They all work together."

An art major with a mi-
nor in psychology,
Cowperthwait wants to make
a career of her art. She plans
to build her portfolio in the
coming year, and then earn a
master's of fine arts degree. It
is a path she began to follow
four years ago.

"1 chose to come to Wash-
ington College because of
the art studio," Cowperthwait
said. "It's so nice to have a
place like this to work m,
and the art community is re-
ally awesome.

"The senior art majors
had an intense year together,
and any one of us could have
won. It's a lot of work when
you're in the studio, but
when you have something to
show for It, it makes it
worthwhile. It's something I
take a lot of pride in." I

Copeland
Professorship
Pushes

Campaign To
$66 MiUion

A BEQUEST FROM
Pamela Cunningham
Copeland, coupled
with a gift from her daughter,
Louisa Copeland Duemling,
provided $500,000 to estab-
lish the Lammot duPont
Copeland Professorship in
the Center for Environment
and Society. Their gifts,
which are matched under the
terms of the Hodson Chal-
lenge that double all gifts to
endowment of $100,000 or

Maryland Governor Parris
Glendening (right) greets Margaret
Goldstein Janney 75 before a
dinner honoring Goldstein Hall
donors. Looking on are Philip
Goldstein, Henry C. Beck Jr. and
President John S. Toll.

more, pushed the Campaign
for Washington's College be-
yond $66 million.

Dr. Wayne Bell, Director
of the new Center for Envi-
ronment and Society, was
named the first Lammot
duPont Copeland Professor
at Washington College.

In other development
news, private support tor
Louis L. Goldstein Hall
topped $2 million in April,
completing a public/private
partnership that included $2
million from the State of
Maryland in the successful
fundraising campaign for
Goldstein Hall. Maryland
Governor Parris N.
Glendening delivered the
keynote address before a din-
ner of donors of $ 1 ,000 or
more to the project on April
20. Recent major gifts push-
ing fundraising for Goldstein
Hall past the $2 million
mark included $125,000
from Washington College
parents, $150,000 from The
Booth Ferris Foundation, and
$500,000 allocated from an
earlier $1 million grant from
The Grayce B. Kerr Fund. ►

College
Receives
Half'MiUion-
Dollar Gift

ASHINGTON Col-
lege has received
$500,000 from the
estate of Hazel Ann Fox, the
late aunt of Alonzo G.
Decker Jr., retired chief ex-
ecutive officer of the Black
& Decker Corporation and
honorary co-chair of the
Campaign for Washington's
College.

Fox passed away in 1995
at the age of 103. Bom in
Baltimore, she studied sing-
ing and dancing in her
youth, eventually becoming
an award-winning competi-
tive dancer, a pastime she
enjoyed throughout her life.
Fox was known for her un-
pretentious demeanor and a
zest for life, and was an ac-
tive patron of the arts and
education in Baltimore. Her
generosity benefited not only
Washington College, but
also the Baltimore Museum
of Art, the Maryland Insti-
tute, the Baltimore Sym-
phony Orchestra and Johns
Hopkins Hospital.

"My aunt had long been a
proponent of higher educa-
tion and took great pleasure

in giving her support when-
ever possible," said Decker.
The gift will be added to
the College's general endow-
ment tor funding scholar-
ships, academic programs,
faculty positions and the
maintenance and improve-
ment of buildings. ►

College
Names New
Trustees

AT ITS APRIL meeting,
the Board of Visitors
and Governors ap-
proved a new slate of officers
and welcomed several new
trustees.

Jack S. Griswold, formerly
vice chairman, succeeds L.
Clifford Schroeder as chair-
man ot the board. Sheryl V.
Kerr, formerly treasurer, was
named vice chairman. Norris
W. Commodore '73 steps up
as treasurer. John A. Moag Jr.
'77 continues in his role as
secretary".

Joseph L. Holt, the
College's vice president for
administration, was named
assistant secretary, and H.
Louis Stettler III, the
College's senior vice presi-
dent, was named assistant
treasurer.

The board reelected
Henry C. Beck to a new six-
year term and tapped Carl
Ferris, a member of the
president's advisory council,
to join the board. Beck, a
Dallas business executive
with ties to Maryland's East-
em Shore, has served on the
board since 1983. A graduate
of Dartmouth College's
Thayer School of Engineer-
ing, Mr. Beck also attended
Harvard Business School and
MIT. Ferris, who has a home
in Rock Hall, MD, worked
for the DuPont Company for
16 years before becoming a
highly successful restaurateur

WASHINGTON. COLLEGE- MAGAZINE / SUM.MER-

with more than a dozen
Burger King franchises. Ferris
is a graduate of Cornell Uni-
versity. He and his wife,
Connie, recently funded a
chair in business manage-
ment at Washington Col-
lege.

Also new to the board is
Caroline Boutte, an architect
who is active in the arts. She
will serve out Clare "Pat"
Ingersoll's unexpired term,
which extends through 2005.
A former project officer with
the World Bank, Boutte op-
erates her own custom resi-
dential designAiuild firm,
Graybanks Design Group
LLC, in Easton, MD. Boutte
serves on the board of the
National Museum of Women
in the Arts, and was Chair-
man in 1997 of the
Museum's Tenth Anniversary
Ball. She is a trustee of The
Academy of the Arts in
Easton and The Historical
Society of Talbot County,
MD. She is a member of the
Women's Committee of both
the Washington Opera and
the Columbia Hospital for
Women.

Matthew T Weir '90 and
John A. Moag Jr. '77 were
both reappointed to the
board. Weir is former chair-
man of the Washington Col-
lege Friends of
the Arts and
currently serves
on the Cam-
paign Cabinet.
He endowed
the "Mary Mar-
tin Scholarship"
in honor of his
grandmother
and was a major
supporter of the
recent renova-

Amanda Baldwin
'03 greeted Oliver
Sacks when the
famous neurologist
and author visited
campus.

tion of Norman James The-
atre. Moag distinguished
himself as a partner in the
law firm of Patton Boggs,
LLP and as Chairman of the
Maryland Stadium Author-
ity. Now a managing director
at Legg Mason Wood
Walker, Inc., Moag leads a
multi-disciplinary financial
team devoted to the sports
industry. His group at Legg
Mason has extensive experi-
ence in stadium and arena fi-
nancing, the sale of fran-
chises, and financial reorga-
nizations. He has been a
member of the Washington
College Board of Visitors and
Governors since 1989. I

Sacks

Addresses

Creativity

NEUROLOGIST and
best-selling author
Oliver Sacks spoke to
a packed house at Washing-
ton College in March. More
than 800 people filled the
College's Tawes Theatre to
hear the author of The Man
Who Mistook His Wife for a
Hat and the inspiration for

the film Aualc^'niiigs lecture
on "Creativity and the
Brain." Sacks described
clinical cases of famous sa-
vants, individuals with
Tourette's Syndrome and
other neurological conditions
that provide some insights of
the mental processes he pro-
posed are hallmarks of truly
creative minds.

Sacks also noted the "sane
smallness" of Washington
College during his visit. The
event was part of the Second
Annual Jesse Ball duPont
Behavioral Neuroscience
Speaker Series sponsored by
the Jesse Ball duPont Fund,
the Gibson-Wagner Fund,
the Washington College De-
partment of Psychology and
the Washington College
Chapter of the Sigma Xi Sci-
entific Research Society. ►

"Fakespeare
Players"
Appear At
Inner Harbor

To W.ASH, or not to
wash." That was the
question when Wash-
ington College's Royale
Fakespeare Players
"madlibbed" the Bard during
a performance at the Balti-

Sarah Johnson '03 and Don
Holdren '01 reinvent a scene from
Shakespeare at Baltimore's Inner
Harbor.

more Inner Harbor m April.
The troupe of actors per-
formed scenes from
Shakespeare's Hamlet,
Macbeth, The Taming of the
Shrew and other plays, with
the assistance of audience
members gathered at the out-
door amphitheater.

"We have a lot of fun
with Shakespeare using
madlibs and parodies," said
Mindy Beers '01, general
manager of the troupe of
drama majors. "We collect
words from the audience in
the traditional madlib part^'
game fashion. Then our ac-
tors ha\'e to fill in the blanks
using these words in a tradi-
tional Shakespearean scene.
The results are always unex-
pected and hilarious."

The Royale Fakespeare
Players was founded by Lind-
say Krieg '00 in 1998 as a
way to make Shakespeare
more enjoyable and more ac-
cessible to the public. Since
then, the Players ha\e per-
formed on campus, at local
schools and at x'arious public
events and festivals.

"The famous balcony
scene from Romeo ciiiJ Juliet
might not appeal to most
people at first, but when we
re-script it for a college la-

S U M M F. R - 2 0 0 I / W A S H 1 N G T O N C O L L E G E - M A G A Z I N E

www WASHCOLL EDU

crosse player enamored with
a sorority girl, well, suddenly
Shakespeare doesn't seem so
distant from our time," said
Beers. >

College
Recognizes
Jessie Ball
duPont

WASHINGTON Col-
lege has named the
Academic Re-
sources Center in Goldstein
Hall in honor of the late
Jessie Ball duPont. Consist-
ing of the math center, the
writing center and the study
skills office, the Jessie Ball
duPont Academic Resources
Center recognizes Mrs.
duPont's philanthropic spirit
and support of the College
through the generosity of the
Jessie Ball duPont Fund.

Since 1983, the Jessie Ball
duPont Fund has awarded 18
grants totaling $1.8 million
to Washington College for a
variety of purposes. Among
the key initiatives supported
hy the Fund are the environ-
mental studies program and
the new Center for the Envi-
ronment and Society, intern-
ships with the Chesapeake
Bay Foundation, scholarships
for non-traditional students
and the development of a be-
havioral neuroscience con-
centration. Additionally, the
Fund supports a joint pro-
gram with Western Maryland
and Goucher colleges that
brings visiting African
American scholars to cam-
pus. Other grants from the
Fund have included support
for student/faculty collabora-
tive research in the sciences
and planning for the Cam-
paign for Washington's Col-
lege. A plaque recognizing
Mrs. duPont will be on dis-
play in Goldstein Hall.

"In so many instances, the
Jessie Ball duPont Fund has
been a pioneering partner as
we have developed new pro-
grams at Washington Col-
lege," said College President
John S. Toll. "Mrs. duPont's
vision, as carried out by the
trustees of the Jessie Ball
duPont Fund, has enabled the
College to move in bold new
directions to enrich our aca-
demic program. We are hon-
ored that the Fund President,
Sherry Magill, agreed that the
College should recognize Mrs.
duPont's great contributions
with the naming of the Aca-
demic Resources Center in
Goldstein Hall."

Jessie Dew Ball was bom
in 1884 into a genteel Vir-
ginia family impoverished by
the Civil War. Educated in a
one-room country school and
later at what is now Long-
wood College in Farmville,
VA, she helped her father in
his law practice and taught
school in her home county
until 1908, when she moved
to San Diego, CA. There she
became assistant principal in
the largest elementary school
in the city.

In 1921, she married
Alfred 1. duPont, whom she
had met as a teenager when
he came to Virginia on hunt-
ing expeditions at the turn of
the century.

From the time of her mar-
riage, Mrs. duPont focused
her life on charitable and
philanthropic work. For four
decades she funded hundreds
of scholarships for college
students, mostly in the
southeastern states. Her gifts
to colleges and universities
augmented faculty salaries
and built libraries.

When she died in 1970,
her will established the Jessie
Ball duPont Religious,
Charitable and Educational
Fund to continue her philan-
thropic work. The principles
and interests that she pur-
sued during her life still
guide the Fund today. I

WC IN THE NEWS

Some Recent Ink. .

"Stephanie Fowler is my newest hope for the future of a culture.
She is 22 years old and says she is haunted by language. 1 am 56
years old and haunted by a fear that no one else in her generation
cares about language."

— Sun columnist Michael Olesker on 2001 Sophie Kerr Prize
winner Stephanie Fowler, The Baltimore Sun, Tuesday,
May 22, 2001 ("Placing value on journeying to the heart
of one's life")

"When her name was called, Fowler, who once wrote a sonnet to
her '95 Camaro called 'Ode to an O', covered her face and wept."

—Sun reporter Chris Guy on the awarding of the 2001 Sophie
Kerr Prize, The Baltimore Sun, May 21, 2001 ("Book
about Eastern Shore is latest Sophie's choice")

"Widmer is a historian turned speechwriter turned historian again,
and his manner is clearly professorial: He's friendly, funny, and
soft-spokenly longwinded. He's a slight man, pale with thinning
hair, who looks more than a little like Vladimir Putin."

— \lesse Oxfeld on Dr. Ted Widmer, new Director of the C. V.
Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience,
Brill's Content, April 2001 ("Thinking About Tomorrow")

"Washington College biologist Douglas Darnowski and his stu-
dents have figured out how to do something science has never
done before-something the squeamish might think should never
have been done at all. They found a new method for expanding the
world's population of killer plants."

—Heather Dewar, The Baltimore Sun, May 3, 2001 ("Making
botanical progress")

"Now, there are a lot of colleges that have the name Washington
on them, but Washington College was the only college to which
George Washington gave permission to use his name. There are a
lot of stories of how that was done, but I understand that part of it
was due to the negotiating skills of Louis Goldstein."

—Gov. Parris Glendening speaking at the dedication of the
donors' plaque for Goldstein Hall, quoted in Kent County
News, April 16, 2001 (Stephen Spolswood, "Glendening
visits Kent County for dedication")

For the latest links to Washington College In the Neuis, visit our
online newsroom at http://newsroom.washcoll.edu.

WASHING! ON-COLLEGE-M:AG,^ZINE / SUMMER-

College
Establishes
Sigma Xi
Chapter

WASHINGTON Col-
lege has been
granted a charter to
establish a chapter of Sigma
Xi, the Scientific Research
Society. The chapter re-
ceived its charter during an
installation ceremony held
on campus in April.

"The primary benefits of
our Sigma Xi affiliation will
be an increased availability
of research grant money for
faculty and student projects,
and opportunity for a greater
exchange of ideas and for in-
terdisciplinary collaboration
with researchers from other
institutions," said Dr.
Michael Kerchner, an associ-
ate professor of psychology
who will ser\'e as first presi-
dent of the newly formed
chapter.

Founded in 1886, Sigma
Xi is a non-profit member-
ship society of more than
80,000 scientists and engi-
neers elected to the Society
because of their research
achievements or potential.
In addition to publishing the
journal American Scientist,
Sigma Xi awards annual
grants to promising young re-
searchers, holds forums on

critical issues at the intersec-
tion of science and society,
and sponsors a variety of pro-
grams supporting honor in
science and engineering, sci-
ence education, science
policy and the public under-
standing of science. The af-
filiation allows Washington
College faculty and students
to advance scientific educa-
tion and research through
grants, travel awards, confer-
ences and visiting scientists.
For the last five years, Dr.
Kerchner has been part of a
core of faculty, primarily in
the natural sciences, working
to bring Sigma Xi to the
College. "Our three-year
plan for the chapter includes
a schedule of events and
speakers, membership re-
cruitment strategies, profes-
sional development plans,
community outreach initia-
tives and programs to foster
undergraduate research op-
portunities that demonstrate
our commitment to Sigma
Xi's ideals." ►

Men's Tennis
Makes A Run

At NCAA
Title

THE WASHINGTON
men's tennis team
completed another suc-
cessful season, finishing 19-2,

t:Tl^:

holding on to its Centennial
Conference title and reach-
ing the quarterfinals of the
NCAA Division III champi-
onship.

The Shoremen won their
eighth Centennial Confer-
ence championship, having
never lost a match in confer-
ence play.

Washington's ride in the
NCAA tournament started
in Chestertown. The
Shoremen were the -2 seed
from the Atlantic South Re-
gion, and hosted Swarthmore
and Washington &. Lee for
the right to move on to the

Geraldine Twitty, dlrector-at-large
at Sigma Xi (center), and
President John Toll were on hand
(or the Installation of Sigma XI
officers at Washington College.
Serving for 2001-2002 are (from
left) Michael Kerchner. associate
professor of psychology: Douglas
Darnowskl. assistant professor of
biology: Martin Connaughton.
assistant professor ot biology: and
Leslie Sherman, assistant
professor of chemistry.

Jose Lejarraga 03. competing in
the NCAA Division III singles
competition, advanced to the
quarterfinals, but lost In the final
set to a player Irom Trinity College.

quarterfinals. The team
downed Washington &l Lee,
4-0, by winning all four
singles matches. Jose
Lejarraga won his first singles
match 6-2, 6-0. Freshman
Peter Taylor was broken in
his fourth singles match, but
was able to come back and
win 6-1, 7-5.

Washington ad\-anced to
the quarterfinals. The
Shoremen were upset by Wil-
liams College (MA), 4-2.
V(''ilUams went on to claim
the national title.

The Shoremen took two
doubles matches from Will-
iams as Lejarraga and Seth
Morgan won their match
9-7. Williams took the
singles competition with four
wins. Washington's lone
singles winner was Taylor.
He won 6-4, 7-5.

In the individual portion

S U M M E R • J 0 0 1

W A S H I N G T O N - C O L L E G E - M ..\ G A Z I N E

W W W W A S H C O L L E D U

of the championship, Morgan
and Lejarraga were elimi-
nated in the first round of
the doubles competition.
Kyle Harding and Jeff Keen
of Kalamazoo College (Ml)
downed the Shoremen pair
3-6, 6-4, 6-4. ►

Bell Leads
Conference
On Coastal

Seas

AYNE H. Bell, di-
rector ot the
College's Center for
the Environment and Soci-
ety, will head to Japan this
November to help establish
international policy to pro-
tect the world's enclosed
coastal seas.

Bell, with his expertise in
environmental, scientific and
political matters affecting the
Chesapeake Bay, was tapped
to serve as program planning
co-chair for EMECS 2001,
the Fifth International Con-
ference on the Environmen-
tal Management of Enclosed
Coastal Seas.

The conference is orga-

nized by the International
EMECS Center in Kobe, es-
tablished to promote the
preservation of Japan's Seto
Inland Sea and the world's
enclosed coastal seas through
international cooperation
and information exchange.

The EMECS concept de-
veloped in the mid-1980s
when environmentalists, re-
searchers and policymakers
involved with the Chesa-
peake Bay realized the Bay
restoration program was be-
ing implemented with little
knowledge of the informa-
tion, methods and results
gained by other estuanne
and enclosed coastal sea prci-
grams.

Led by the late Dr. Ian
Morris, former director of
the University of
Maryland's Center for En-
vironmental and Estuanne
Studies (now the Univer-
sity ot Maryland Center
for Environmental Sci-
ence), an international
group was assembled to ex-
amine the strengths and
weaknesses of similar es-
tuarine and coastal sea
projects.

Concurrently, Governor
Toshitami Kaihara of Japan's
Hycigo Prefecture had simi-
lar concerns while conclud-
ing a success-
ful agreement
among 17
Japanese ju-
tisdictions for
the environ-
mental resto-
ration of the
nation's Seto

Wayne H. Bell
is helping to set
the agenda for
an International
environmental
conference.

WASHINGTON. COLLEGE- M.^G.^ZINE / SUMMER-2 00 1

Former First
Lady Helen
Gibson
encouraged
women of the
community to
support the
College.

Inland Sea. Kaihara sought
to maintain the health of
his region's principal coastal
sea while networking with
othet researchers, educators
and policymakers involved
in the management of en-
closed coastal sea environ-
ments.

"EMECS grew out oi a
common desire to learn from
the experience of others and
share what we learned for
the benefit of environmental
restoration programs
thfoughout the world," said
Bell.

Bell hopes to make under-
graduate education in the
environmental sciences an
impottant part of the
conference's discussions.

"We have discovered
that studying the environ-
ment is a great way to teach
science to undergraduates,"
said Bell.

"In order to prepare a
new generation to tackle
the nation's and the
world's environmental
problems, we have to em-
phasize education, not only
for the public, but for un-
dergraduates interested in
becoming environmental
scientists, educatots and
leaders." I

Women's
League Honors
Helen Gibson

FOUNDED IN May
1951, the Women's
League of Washington
College celebtates its 50" an-
niversary this year. In honor
of its founder, the Women's
League has decided to name
Its annual scholarship tor
Helen S. Gibson, wife of the
late Daniel Z. Gibson, presi-
dent of the College from
1950 to 1970.

"Helen welcomed into the
Women's League all women
in the community intetested
in the welfare of the College
and Its students," noted
league president Missy
Carroll.

The league presented
$10,000 for the Helen S.
Gibson Scholatship to
President Toll in May. The
league also gave the Col-
lege $2,500 for the Miller
Library in memory of the
late Katherine Anthony
Clements '37, a former
Women's League presi-
dent. ►

ALUMNI

SNAPSHOTS

Spooky Science

CIARAN O'KEEFFE '94 has channeled his
lifelong fascination for all things otherworldly
into a career that puts hauntings and psychic
communications to the scientific test.

'Keeffe, a parapsy-
chology researcher in
England, keeps an
open mind when he runs his
critical investigations of para-
normal activity. When he and
his research team at the Uni-
versity of Hertfordshire bring
a medium into the controlled
environment of a laboratory
or analyze a photograph of
what appears to be spirit,
there is always the thought
that this might be the "white
crow" William James spoke
of He said: "In order to dis-
prove the law that all crows
are black, it is enough to find
one white crow."

Yet even the most famously
haunted sites in England —
Hampton Court Palace and
Edinburgh Castle — have of-
fered no scientific evidence of
spirits. At Hampton Court,
where Henry VI 11 had
Catherine Howard beheaded,
O'Keeffe conducted an inten-
sive ghost hunt. "Legend sug-
gested that when Catherine
heard the news of her impend-
ing execution, she tried to run
to the king but was stopped by
the guards and dragged along
what is now known as the
Haunted Gallery'," O'Keeffe
says. "There have been un-
usual sightings of a woman in
white, so we went into the
palace to investigate."

A drop in temperature
could be the result of a
breeze, which can be picked
up with temperature sensors,
O'Keeffe explains. A thermal
imager picks up cold spots.

Researchers in Canada also
have suggested that magnetic
fields can cause strange sen-
sations. Further analysis from
Edinburgh and future sites
may validate that hypothesis.

"Most of the time people
genuinely believe they have
experienced something," he
says.

cisms and faith healings.
"The problem is that, from a
psychologist's perception, hu-
man memory is fallible,"
O'Keeffe says. "Eyewitness
testimony is notoriously bad.
Even when qualified re-
searchers have commented
on poltergeists, we get differ-
ences in detail from the same
case. One may report rain
coming from the ceiling,
while another may report
water flowing from a wall as
if from a faucet. These are
compelling cases, but what
evidence can you have? An-
ecdotal evidence is not
enough for a scientist."

It is science that debunks
claims of spirits caught on
film. "Some anomalies turn

That "belief in the super-
natural may be the most
plausible explanation for re-
ported paranormal events,
suggests O'Keeffe. "If we
pointed to a particular room
as haunted and then had
hundreds of people go
through all the rooms, we
hypothesize that more people
would report hauntings in
the room that we suggested
was haunted."

O'Keeffe also collects an-
ecdotal evidence of ghostly
sightings, poltergeists, exor-

As a Ph.D. student at tlie University
of Herffordstiire, Ciaran O'Keeffe '94
looks for natural explanations to
supernatural claims.

out to be flashes, camera
straps, thumbs," O'Keeffe
says, "but we did actually
pick up some anomalies at
Edinburgh. We determined
one to be a drip in an under-
ground vault that was seep-
ing lime. Other photographs
we are still analyzing."
It is science, too, that

helps purported psychics
"read" their clients. "These
people are very good psy-
chologists," says O'Keeffe.
"They can glean information
from a client in the first 30
seconds — with clues from
their clothes, their speech,
their appearance — and then
the interaction occurs. It is
quite literally a conversation.
Through what is known as
cold reading, psychics use a
more engaging and dramatic
style while employing vague-
ness and ambiguity. If a psy-
chic gives you pages of infor-
mation, you'll remember only
the correct information and
ignore the information that
was wrong."

Since earning his master's
degree in investigative psy-
chology-, O'Keeffe has lost
much of his spooky accep-
tance. "As an undergraduate, I
was convinced by other
people's experience. My
master's research looking at
psychic detection pushed me
over the edge toward skepti-
cism. Many of these psychics
are wonderfully gregarious,
friendly and caring. They want
to help. The only thing they
conjure up, though, is clients."

Through his research,
O'Keeffe is making a name
for himself as a consultant on
movies and various criminal
investigations, as well as in
the academic field. He is pre-
paring an article for publica-
tion on the Hampton Court
and Edinburgh findings, and
is about to undertake a book
project on Spiritualism. The
book will be "an unbiased, yet
academic text" on the reli-
gious mo\'ement from its ori-
gins in HydesviUe, NY, in
1848, to its current standing
in the UK and USA.

O'Keeffe is also working on
a small book project on the
Ouija board, which, strangely
enough, has some cosmic con-
nection to Chestertown. One
of the board inventors was E.
C. Reichie, a Chestertov\Ti
cabinetmaker, t

SUMMER

\X' A S H I N C T O N - C O L L E G E - M .A G ,\ Z I N E

\V W W W A S H C O L L E D U

Faculty/Staff
Achievements

LOUISE AMICK, assistant
professor of mathematics,
gave a presentation titled
"Cauchy's Integral Theorem"
at the 2001 Annual Joint
Meetings of the Mathemati-
cal Association of America
and the American Math-
ematical Sociery held in
New Orleans. She also pre-
sented the paper "TTiat Indis-
pensable Constant of Inte-
gration" at the annual meet-
ing of the National Council
of Teachers of Mathematics
held in Orlando in April.

MILISSA BOLCAR, assistant
professor of chemistry, MARK
HUBLEY, assistant professor
of biology, and VICKY
LENTZ, assistant professor of
biology, were successful in a
grant writing effort, bringing
to the College $60,000 from
the Merck Company to sup-
port collaborative student re-
search and other program-
ming initiatives.

KEVIN BRIEN, professor of
philosophy, had a paper
titled "Logos and Mythos:
How to Regain the Love of
Wisdom via the Union of
Marx and Buddha" accepted
and selected for discussion at
a special session of the
Fourth World Congress of
the International Society for
Universal Dialogue, to be
held at Jagiellonian Univer-
sity m Cracow, Poland, this

July. He also gave a talk
titled "Three Wise Men:
Heraclitus, Lao Tzu, and
Buddha" at Wesley College
in April and has taught a
workshop on the basics of
Buddhist meditation for the
Unitarian Universalists of
the Chester Ri\'er.

TOM COUSINEAU, professor
of English, reviewed an essay,
"Beckett and France," for a
panel held at last year's MLA
Convention. The essay will
appear in an upcoming issue
of The Beckett Circfe, the
newsletter of the Samuel
Beckett Society. In addition,
he has published an essay
titled "Cherche: La Foule" in
the journal Samuel Beckett
Today.

LISA DANIELS, assistant pro-
fessor of economics, pre-
sented a paper titled "Testing
Alternative Measures of
Microenterprise Profits and
Net Worth" at the Eastern
Economics Association
meeting in New York City in
February. At the same meet-
ing, she was a discussant for
a paper titled "Institutions
and Economic Growth: Em-
pirical Evidence from a
Cross-National Analysis," by
Maya Vijayaraghavan.

PEGGY DONNELLY, assistant
professor of education, pre-
sented a session titled "From

Campus to Classroom; Best
Practice in Teacher Educa-
tion" at the annual meeting
of the Association of Teacher
Educators in New Orleans in
February. She also delivered
a presentatitin to the faculty
of Worton Elementary'
School on "Professional Port-
folios as an Assessment In-
strument in Teacher Educa-
tion" in March. In addition.

she presented a session,
"Thunder at Gettysburg:
Fourth Grade Interpreta-
tion," at the Children's Lit-
erature Conference at the
University of Pittsburgh in
May 2001.

MARK HUBLEY, assistant
professor of biology, had an
article co-authored with
Christopher Parks '00 and

Assistant professor of biology Doug DarnowskI had a peer-reviewed paper,
co-authored with sophomore Matthew McDermott. accepted by the
Carnivorous Plant Newsletter of the International Carnivorous Plant
Society. Tilled "Abiotic Factors, Particularly CO^ Concentration, Affecting
Carnivorous Plants from the Eastern Shore of Maryland." the paper is
based on the research done In the Summer 2000 Undergraduate Research
Program funded by the Gale Foundation. Dr. Darnowskl's teaching In plant
diversity and research on carnivorous plants also were featured In an
article In r/ie (Baltimore) Sun on May 3, 2001. A short article on results of
his recent trip to Australia was accepted by the Bulletin ol the Australian
Carnivorous Plant Society. Dr. DarnowskI and McDermott also had an
abstract lor a poster accepted by the Botanical Society ot America. Titled
"Analysis of growth requirements of locally rare bladderworts (Utricularia
spp.; Lentlbularlaceae), ' the abstract's first author is McDermott, who
conducted the Investigation as part of the Undergraduate Research
Program funded by the Gale Foundation.

WASHINGTON-COLLEGE- M A G.^ZINE / SUMMER-2001

physics professor JUAN LIN
accepted tor publication.
"Temperature-Induced
Changes in the Locomotor
Capacity of Juvenile
Marenzelleria Viridis
(Polychaeta: Spionidae)" will
appear in the journal Inverte-
brate Biology.

MIKE KERCHNER, associate
professor oi psychology, at-
tended the recent meeting of
the Eastern Psychological
Association in Washington,
DC, and was the chief orga-
nizer of the behavioral neu-
roscience panel discussion,
where he summarized the
collaborative-laboratory
project that MARK HUBLEY
and he have been develop-
ing. He also presented a
poster with junior Donald
Stranahan as the primary au-
thor and another poster on
research conducted with
GEORGE SPILR:H, professor

of psychology, and a col-
league at Middlebury Col-
lege. One of the co-authors
was senior Amanda Delcher.

LAUREN LITTLEFIELD, assis-
tant professor of psychology,
presented three posters at the
annual meeting of the East-
em Psychological Associa-
tion with student co-authors.
The posters addressed "What
you should know before diag-
nosing ADHD," "The cogni-
tive underpinnings of reading
disorder," and "Evaluating
the efficacy of a summer en-
richment program for at-risk
children."

HARRIET MASEMBE, visiting
Jessie Ball duPont Scholar, at-
tended the conference
"Crossroutes: The Meanings
of Race tor the 21" Century,"
held in Italy in March. While
there, she presented a paper,
"Finding their Song: August

Juan Lin. professor of physics,
liad an article. "Fuzzy Decisions in
Modular Neural Networks, "
accepted for publication.
Co-autfiored with E. Mizraji. It will
appear in the International Journal
of Bilurcation and Chaos. Vo 1. 1 1 ,
155-167 (2001). In addition, he
reviewed "The Dynamics ot a
Vertically Transmitted Disease"
for Applied Mathematics Letters.
and "Permanence tor N-species
Lotka-Volferra Systems ' for
Computers and Mathematics.

Wilson's Joe Turner and Mul-
tiracial Identity m the
U.S.A." and chaired a work-
shop in drama.

KEVIN McKILLOP, associate
professor of psychology, and
two student co-authors pre-
sented papers at the annual
meeting of the Eastern Psy-
chological Association in
Washington, DC. The papers
were titled "We Have Met
the Enemies, and They Are
Not Us" and "The Anatomy
of a Secret." In addition, an
article concerning his work
on secret-keeping (mention-
ing Washington College) ap-
peared in the April 2001 is-
sue ot Allure magazine.

BOB MOONEY, director of
the O'Neill Literary House
and assistant professor of En-
glish, had his short story
"Witness" accepted tor publi-
cation in the literary journal
Artful Dodge. He was one of
five speakers at this year's
From Bay-to-Ocean Writers'
Conference held in February
in Easton, MD. He gave a
talk titled "Truth and Fic-
tion" and participated in a
panel discussion on the sub-
ject of "The State of Con-
temporary Letters."

SEAN O CONNOR, professor
of education, completed a

CD/audiotape set titled "An
Active Approach To Learn-
ing" for a faculty develop-
ment project to support the
overall quality- of teaching
and learning in graduate pro-
grams for the University of
New South Wales and the
University of Sydney, Aus-
tralia. In addition, he created
a CD/audiotape for graduate
students titled "The Student
as Learner."

DAN PREMO, professor of
political science, completed
a book review of The Friendly
Liquidation of the Past: The
Politics of Diversity in Latin
America by Donna Lee Van
Cott. The review will appear
in the American Political Sci-
ence Review.

JOHN SEIDEL, assistant pro-
fessor o{ environmental stud-
ies, was elected to the Execu-
ti\-e Board of the Council for
Maryland Archaeology,
which represents professional
archaeologists in Maryland's
academic institutions, gov-
ernment agencies and the
private sector.

GEORGE SHIVERS, professor
of Spanish, participated in a
Fulton School of Liberal Arts
colloquium at Salisbury State
L'niversity in March.

KAREN SMITH, professor of
physical education, gave
two presentations titled
"Using Imagery to Improve
Alignment" and "Putting it
All Together: Planning
Your Dance Concert or Fes-
tival" at the Eastern District
Association of HPERD's an-
nual convention in New-
port, Rl.

SUISHENG ZHAO, associate
professor of political science,
served as a moderator on a
television program aired in
March titled The Cliimi Fo-
rum, discussing "Political
Succession in China." >

iUMMER.ZOOl / «' AS HINOTON. COLLEGE. MAGAZINE

\X' \X' «•■ . \X' A S H C 0 L L E D U

PORTFOLIO

Page 27

by Jim Dissette '71

An early winner of the Sophie Kerr Prize, Jim
Dissette 71 has lived on the Oregon coast
since 1981. In the years since graduation
he has continued his writing, founded Songs
Before Zero Press, a limited edition
publishing company, and currently works as a
graphic designer and county newspaper
publisher. The Page 27 project is a series of
"constructions" born out of the spirit of
Joseph Cornell and Jorge Luis Borges. All
texts are by the author; photos are by the
author and his father, Edward Dissette.

A Hungry- Moon

so I pulled on mv lon^^ black aloves to the elbows, where
small spurs \\'ould be htted with ^reasecord and shards
of lis^ht. Thev ht even and snu^ as thev always did for
this kind of travel — back through those precipitous
years — a travelmsj like fallin>j throug;h ten swimming
pools, each one colder and darker until the last one freezes
darkh' into an image of mv mother wavma a burning
scarf across the fully eclipsed moon of an open well.

Arming on the shore of that vear, but staving for
onlv the briefest of moments — thm as a shadowlick — I
gathered the onlv tinctures of promise and mineral jovs,
the tiny harvests of sleep, and brought an armful back so
fast thev singed as I threw them m the air of this very
moment to alitjht on bare winter limbs and are witness-
mo now as crows.

Still, mv brother was not born vet. I save a place for
him at tables, on the dizzying carousel, even m mv boat
as the tidewater sighs and unsavs itself because I am sav-
ing for him the storv of where lost thmas go, of concord

P.\GE 27

WA5HlNGTON-COLLEGE-Ni.'\GAZINE / SUMMER-

LIVING HISTORY

Diary of the Schooner

SUL

IN THE MONTHS WHEN COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS

in Chestertown were building an historically accurate replica of the

18'''-century American-huilt schooner Sultana, history major Kees de Mooy '01

became intrigued with the history of the original.

He began his investigation by transcribing the ship's logs, and then,

with a grant from the Society of Junior Fellows, visited all the ports

the Sultana had seen, on American shores and in England.

His senior thesis, on which this article is based, documents the exploits

the Sultana made "in pursuit of revenue" tor Mother Britain.

IN THE MID- 1760s, a crisis was developing between
Britain and her American colonies. After more than
100 years ot relative autonomy, Americans suddenly
faced taxes imposed on them by British Parliament.
British army and naval forces had defended the 13
colonies in the French and Indian War, and Parlia-
ment needed to make up for the tremendous debts
incurred during seven years of fighting.

In order to bring money into the Treasury, the Royal Navy
was charged with aiding in the enforcement of the Naviga-
tion Acts, which consisted of duties on many goods imported
into the colonies. American merchants responded to what

they considered to be unfair taxes by evading customs offi-
cials and smuggling prohibited items on smaller coasting
vessels. In 1764, the British Admiralty purchased six small
American-built schooners to patrol the shallower waters
preferred by smugglers. More vessels were needed and, four
years later, a schooner built at the Boston shipyard o( Ben-
jamin Hallowell was sailed to England, where it was pur-
chased and refitted tor service on the North .American
Station.

This is the stor\- of His Majesty's Armed Schooner Sultana, as
told through logbook entries that begin in London at Deptford
Dock, one ot the largest na\'al yards in England.

B Y

KEES

D E

MOOY

0 1

SUMMER-: 0 i' 1

W A S H 1 N G T O N ■ C O L L E G E ■ M .^ G .A 2 I N E

TWW.WASHCOLL EDU

A replica of the Suiti^a, portr^ed _

here hy artist Marc Ca'^eHtrti^as f

launched in Chestertown in March. §

Theshipwi!! be commissioned on j|

July 4, 2001 , and then employed as i t
a floating classroom.

WASHINGTON-COLLEGE-MACAZINE / SUMMER-2C01

JULY /8, J 768. Lymjr in Deptford Dock. Moderate & Fair Weather.
People employed getting the Iron Ballast on board the Schooner.

On July 15, Captain John Inglis, an American-born Lieuten-
ant in the Royal Navy, began the work of readying the Sultarui
for its mission in the colonies. As his crew of 24 men arrived
over the course of several weeks, he had them install and rig new
sails, build a brick ship stove and caulk the deck. Provisions
including barrels of Irish Sea bass, fresh beef, salted tongue, peas,
bread, cheese, raisins and vinegar were stored in the hold. Casks
of beer and brandy, the preferred beverages of sailors, were
likewise stowed away. Eight swivel guns were mounted on the
sides of the schooner, and muskets, pistols and powder were
brought below. On September 1, the Sultana steered out of the
River Thames and sailed westward across the Atlantic.

NOVEMBER 16. 176S. Moored in B(jst07i harbor, the Long Wharf
WSW one Cable's length. First part Moderate & Cknidy ivith Rain.
Middle & Later parts Strong Gales & Cloudy. At 7 AM Manned Ship
for General Gage Going on board of the Romney nw did all the Ships of
the Fleet. The Boats Employed in Landmg the Troops out of the
Transports .

After a rough voyage lasting several harrowing weeks, during
which the schooner nearly capsized, Captain Inglis and his men
arrived in Boston Harbor. Several months earlier, customs
officials had seized John Hancock's sloop Liberty on suspicion of
smuggling, causing fierce riots to erupt in the city. The insur-
gency led to an increased British naval presence and the landing
of two regiments of British soldiers in October. With tensions
running high, two additional regiments were sent by transports
from Ireland. Treated as foreign occupiers, the soldiers fre-
quently clashed with Bostonians, culminating in the Boston
Massacre ot March 1770.

DECEMBER 25. 1768. Newport Harbor. Moderate & Clear. Seized
the Royal Charlotte Brig with 6 Cases of Gin. At _ past ivent on
board the Brig & Found the Customhouse officer on Shore. Seized the
Brig ivith all her tackling & Left an officer on board with 3 men &
nailed up her hatches for the Benefit of his Majesty & heirs.

From Boston, Captain Inglis was ordered to sail to Rhode Island,
a hotbed of smugglers. One week after anchoring near Newport,
Captain Inglis spotted a brig surrepti-
tiously unloading crates of gin near
shore. The captain of the Royal
Charlotte was unable to pro-
vide proper documenta-
tion, so his ship was
seized according to
maritime law.
The day be-
fore, New-

port Customhouse officials had boarded the brig and had placed one
of their men on board, but he was bribed and put ashore. The
Newport Customhouse and the Sukana filed competing court
claims against the Ro;yaJ Charlotte, which drove up costs to the point
where neither party stood to profit. The ship was returned to its
owners after two months of legal wrangling, during which only the
gin was condemned. Colonists and merchants grew emboldened by
legal victories such as this.

APRIL I, (769. Moored in Rhode island Harbor. Fresh breezes.
Received from the Senegal half a Cord of wood. Broke one of the
boat oars by Accident. Prince Gould, a black man entered on board.

Keeping his schooner manned was a constant problem for
Captain Inglis. Cramped quarters and miserable working condi-
tions caused sailors to run away at an alarming rate. Multiracial
crews became common. Prince Gould, a 45-year-old free African
American, volunteered to ser\'e on the Sidtana following the
escape of several crewmen. When Gould came cin board, he was
discovered to have a herniated abdomen. The combination of
advanced age (most sailors were in their teens and twenties) and
medical disability limited his effectiveness. However, he ser\'ed
ably for eight months before being discharged in Virginia.

OCTOBER 7, i769. Moored in Hampton Road, Virginia. Strong
breezes and Cloudy. Sent the boats to search two Vesseb within the
Capes . Boarded a Inig from Leith with coal bound to Norfolk . Sent
the Cutter to Hampton for sweet water & in coming off she was
overset & the said water was lost & no part of them could be saved,
being some time before the people were discovered hanging to the boat.

From September 1769 to August 1770, the Sultana was
stationed near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. The Bay's water-
shed was recognized as one of the most commercially advanta-
geous regions in the world and drew many settlers to its shores.
By 1770, more than 750,000 people had flocked there to take
advantage of its fertile lands and well-stocked waters. While
patrolling Chesapeake Bay, the Sultana's crew stopped and
searched nearly 150 vessels in weather conditions that could
turn dangerous very quickly. On this particular day, the
schooner's cutter capsized in rough waters, nearly drowning
several men who were on their way back from shore with six
large leather containers of fresh water.

jL'LV li. 1 770. Smith Point SW 3 Leagues . Light breezes and cloudy.
At 2 PM set the topsails, at 10 PM came to Anchor u-iih the small
bower in 9 fathoins water. Going doum to Potomac River in company
with the Boston.

Accompanied by H.M.S. Boston, the Sultana sailed up the
Potomac and anchored near Belvoir, the estate ot George
William Fairfax. Next door to Belvoir was Mount Vernon, the
home of Fairfax's friend George Washington, who at this time
was a powerful member of the Virginia House ot Burgesses. On
July 29, Washington invited Inglis and his pilot, David Bruce, to
dinner. Interested in meeting an American captain of a Royal
Navy vessel, Washington also knew John Inglis' brother Samuel,
a prominent Norfolk merchant who was in partnership with
Robert Morris, the future financier ot the Ametican Revolution.
The Sultana returned to its station in Hampton Road attet two
weeks in the Potomac River.

:> LI M M E R - : 0 0 I

W A S H I N O T O N - C O L L E 0 E . M .^ O .•\ Z I N E

«■ \V W W A S H C O L L . E D U

NOVEMBER 23, 1770. Fishers Island ENE 4 miles. Cloidy & Hazy
thick weather. At 1 1 AM Boarded the Polly Sloop Bound to
Dartmouth with Ballast & Some Provisions & the Greyhound Sloop
with wood to Nantucket Island. At 2 PM aired the sails. The people
Employed Looking out for the two Sloop which were to Come From
Amsterdam with Contraband Goods.

Admiral Gambler, the commander of the Royal Navy in
North America, learned m early November that a large ship-
ment ot illicit tea was headed to New York from Holland. He
ordered Inglis to block the northern approach to New York by
patrolling between Fishers Island and Montauk Point on Long
Island. For two weeks the Sultana sailed back and forth, stopping
and searching a variety of vessels. Howe\'er, the two sloops
evaded the blockade and safely offloaded their cargos in New
York. Furious at the ease with which his blockade was eluded,
Gambler appealed to the British Admiralty for additional schoo-
ners, but his request was not fulfilled.

APRIL 12, 1771. Anchored in Newport Harbor. Hard gaks &
Cloudy Weather. At 4 PM Manned and armed the Boat to go on
Shore to Assist the Collector of His Majesty's Customs at Rhode
Island. He Seized a Bng that was running their Cargo, & the Moh
gathered & beat him, & threatened to pull down the Custo)7i house &
Seize on the King's property.

In the week prior to the Sultana's arrival, a Newport customs
official had attempted to sei:e the brig Polly for carrying contra-
band goods. Knocked unconscious and dragged into town by a
mob, the customs official barely escaped with his life. The
attackers returned and emptied out the suspected ship, then
tarred and feathered a suspected informant. When the Sultana
appeared several days later to transport a chest of customs
revenues to Boston, the mob reassembled and threatened to
destroy the Newport Customhouse. Inglis responded to the crisis
by sending 14 heavily armed men to shote in the cutter. A tense
standoff ensued, but order was eventually restored. Two days
later, the king's money was taken on board the Sultana and
delivered to the Custom Commissioner in Boston.

SEPTEMBER 10. 1771.AnchoredoffNewCastleonDelaware. Light
breezes with Cloudy & rain. At 4 PM Read the Articles of War to the
Schooner's Company. Punished Henry Black & Robert Whaley with
2 dozen lashes each for absenting themselves from their duty &
attempting to run away.

The Articles of War stipulated the penalties for 36 shipboard
offenses. Sailors accused of cursing, drunkenness, dereliction of
duty, sleeping while on watch, disobeying an order, desertion or
mutiny were liable to be penalized with 12 to 100 lashes, or
death in extreme cases. Sailors Henr>' Black and Robert Whaley
tried to make their escape from the Sultana's cutter when it was
sent to Gloucester for supplies. They were apprehended by local
authorities and spent the night in jail. Led back to the schooner
in chains, the two men were tied to the mainmast with their
arms over their heads, then whipped with a cat-o'-nine-tails in
front of the entire crew. In May 1772, Henry Black fell and
drowned while boarding a ship that had been stopped in the
Delaware River. Four months later, Whaley escaped from the
Sultana while it was anchored near Philadelphia.

MAY 8, 1772. Delaivare River. Strong Gales and Squally. Going
down the River in pursuit of the Brig that brought m Prohibited Wine.
In Company with the King George Customhouse boat. Boarded the
Said Brig, arvd found on board her some empty wine & braiidy Casks.
Seij:ed her on Suspicion.

Acting on a tip, the Sultana crew pursued and seized the brig
Carolii^a on suspicion ot smuggling. Inglis placed his midshipman
and six sailors on the prize and began to escort the \'essel to the
Philadelphia Customhouse. A boisterous crowd formed on shore
and threatened to attack the Sultana. Fearing a rescue attempt,
Inglis ordered his gunner to load six swivel carmon with grape
shot. Fortunately, tide and wind cooperated to keep the Sidtana
and Its prize out of harm's way. Another Royal Navy ship arrived
on the scene and helped to get the hrig safely to Philadelphia. One
month later, the Sultana's crew was paid prize money stemming
from the condemnation of the Carolina, the only recorded bounty
paid during more than four years ot serT.'ice.

OCTOBER 23, 1772. Cape Race NNE _ E 49 Leagues. Hard Gales
& Squally with rain. A great deal oj Sea from the WSW board. At
2 PM Shipped a Sea. Filled the boat. Washed away the Companion
& oi'erset the binnacle . Laid the Schooner on her beam ends . Cut away
the boat arid let her go overboard to save the schooner. She righted.

In mid-October 1772, after 54 months of sen.'ice on the coast
of North America, Inglis was ordered to sail the Sultana back to
England. Admiral Montagu stated that the schooner was "too
small and not able to encounter the heavy Gales ot wind,
especially m the Winter Season." One week into the trans-
Atlantic journey, heavy swells engulfed the Sidtana, pushing it
over on its side. The cutter was thrown into the sea and pulled
the schooner further downward. A quick-thinking crewman
released the cutter, allowing the schooner to float upright,
thereby saving the lives of all on board. Attempts to dry out the
hold and its content were prevented by heavy winds and rain
that followed the schooner all the way back to England.

DECE.MBER 7. 1772. Moored in Portsmouth Harbor. Moderate and
hazy with drijtmg rain. Paid the Schooner's Company their wages.

The Sultaiia finally arrived on the coast of England after an
exhausting six-week voyage. When the schooner was forced to wait
one week before entering the Portsmouth shipyard, storm seas
broke over the deck and filled the hold yet again. At last the
schooner was escorted into dock, where it was stripped of sails,
rigging and supplies. On December 7, Inglis made the last entry in
his logbook. The men were paid off and then transferred to other
ships in the harbor. Worn out by his ordeal in the colonies, Inglis
left the Royal Navy and traveled to Scotland to recuperate. On
August 11, 1773, the Suluuia was sold at auction to John Hook Jr.
for £85, less than one-thiid of the original purchase price. The
eventual fate of the schooner is unknown, but it most likely spent
the next few years along the coast of England as a trading vessel
before succumbing to damage sustained in the American colonies. I

Kees de Mooy, a former contractor, was always fascirmted by the
history of the bidldings he worked on. Chestertown's Sultana
Project provided him the impetus to doriate his carpenter tools to the
effort and to complete his degree in history.

WASHINGTON-COLLEGE-M.'\GAZINE / 5UMMER-200 1

PRIZE

WINNING

ESSAY

Sons of the Chesapeake

"I cannot escape my backwoods roots that hound me to tell these stories.

Being born and raised on the Eastern Shore,

I grew up with an instinctive respect for the land and the waters.

Where I come from , people are fishermen and fanners , wateiinen aivi small business

owners . And although we have our own ynisgivings and greed and pride concennng

the Chesapeake Bay and our farms, there is a desire to be exactly where we are.

If we know anything, we know where home is."

J.SW*

So Stephanie Fowler, winner ot the 2001 Sophie Kerr Prize,
introduces the reader to a collection ot stories that sprang
trcim the "dark waters and cypress swamps and hard
weather" that define her home. What follows are excerpts
trom one ot those essays that melds histor\' with
imagination, "Sons ot the Chesapeake." In this tale,
Fowler has meticulously recounted the political histor\'
of the intamous "Oyster Wars" that pitted waterman against
waterman, while conveying the personal tragedy it caused one
Crisfield family.

B Y

STEPHANIE FOWLER

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A S H 1 N (j T O N ■ C O L L E G E . M A G A Z I N E

W W W W A ? H C O L L E D U

Orphans by the Bay

JOHN PAUL NELSON was playing
baseball in the streets with the other
neighborhood boys when he lost ev-
erything. The boy was a true son of
Crisfield. His blonde hair, nearly white,
was cropped short to the back of his tan
neck and his thick accent held slight
intonations of the Smith Islanders who
still spoke m near-perfect and antiquated
Shakespearean English. John Paul was 1 1
that summer of 1949. The days were
humid, but for the little white-
haired boy, the days were as long
as they were hot. Thiree months
earlier, he had lost his mother to
tuberculosis.

When his mother passed, John
Paul, the fourth of six children,
became mute. He did not speak to
anyone as he tried desperately to
mend himself. His older brothers.
Earl Jr., Gene and Royce, did
their best to make their beautiful
brother smile. They took him to
the docks to fish, but all John
Paul could remember was his
mother's wasting away. Earl Jr.
and Royce had not been there to
witness her dying. Earl Jr. was
married and lived far away in
Brooklyn, near Baltimore, and
Royce lived near him. Gene had
come home from the military in
1947, and lived in Crisfield work-
ing jobs around the small town,
and John Paul took comfort in
the visits of his older brother. The older
boys didn't know what she had looked
like or what she sounded like in the
middle of the night when he feared they
would all die with her. They had not seen
het pale and wasted, unrecognizable as
their mother. John Paul had seen it all.

His mothei was piegnant when she
got tuberculosis. The doctor said that the
baby was pushing against her lungs and
that slowed down the disease, but once
the baby girl was bom, it took control of
her lungs and she died within the year.
Life at home was difficult for John Paul.
His father. Earl Sr., spent his time di-
vided between tending to his sick wife,
caring for the baby and going to work.
He was a Crisfield police officer and part-
time waterman. John Paul was alone,
except for his little brother David, who
was four years old, so he spent most of his
time watching over David. But still John

Paul was alone with a dying mother, a
busy father and siblings too young to
know any better.

After the funeral. Earl Sr. needed help.
He was 50 years old, his wife was gone,
and his children were suffering. His oldest
son offered to take the baby girl, Dorcas,
back home with him to Brooklyn and take
caie of her until he got hack on his feet.
Earl agreed and his daughter left Crisfield
a few days after the funeral.

But for John Paul, the passing of his
mother had interrupted the natural flow
from the freshness of spring to the excite-

John Paul threw his bike down and

ran to the wooden edge, pushing his

way through the crowd of men and

straining his eyes in bright sun to

make sure his father was alive and

well. But what he saw that day on the

docks changed his life forever.

ment oi the summer. Gene helped around
the house and tried to get John Paul to
come around, but Gene was a quiet
young man, pensive and reserved. The
brothers, unfortunately, never talked
much and John Paul still felt ver>' much
alone in the small house full of sad men
and unhappy children.

Three months after her death, John
Paul was beginning to welcome the v\'arm
days like July 5 because he got a chance
at just being a boy again. About noon,
the baseball game was well underway on
a familiar side street. A skinny boy with
red hair and burnt brown freckles ran up
to John Paul. "Somebody's shot your
daddy!"

feed his family. He navigated the choppy
waters of the Chesapeake to a familiar
crabbing spot near Foxe's Island in the
Pocomoke Sound, a place that lay dan-
gerously close to the invisible boundary
line between Maryland and Virginia. He
kept his boat running perpendicular to
the north side of the island, being sure to
stay in Maryland waters. There he settled
in for a morning of blue crabs and endless
bay.

There were many other watermen out
on the bay. The early morning was warm
and sunny, a waterman's delight. Many
others had motored out to crab
near Foxe's Island. Earl had been
on the water for about two hours
when he noticed a mechanical
buzz overhead. A dark seaplane
circled over his boat, and then
landed 50 feet away. Earl watched
as the plane turned toward his
boat and chugged across the
waves. As it approached, the
words "Virginia Fisheries Police"
were visible on its metal side.

The seaplane carefully sidled up
to Earl's boat and a young deputy
popped open the tiny metal door.
Holding a rifle, he boarded the
boat.

Above the diesel churning of
the seaplane. Earl said, "What kin
I do for ya?"

The deputy- stood in the center
of Earl's boat. His hard blue eyes
scanned the boat and locked on

the bushel of crabs. "You can turn

your boat off and put back your
catch."

"Why? What's the problem'" Earl
studied the man on his boat. His uniform
tag read, "Acree." There w-as another
person inside the seaplane, and he figured
it must've been the pilot.

"I can see from your boat numbers that
you're a Mar\dander. These here are Vir-
ginia waters, and I'm ordering you to

i^ARL NELSON had gone out on his
26-foot scraping boat early that morning
to go crabbing. Like a true Crisfielder,
Nelson worked the bay waters to help

cease and desist." His eyes narrowed on
the 50-year-old Crisfielder.

Earl said nothing. He wiped his brow
with a dirty red handkerchief.

"We're going to Saxis, Virginia. I'm
confiscating this boat. "

A hearty laugh burst forth from the
barrel chest of Earl Nelson. It was an age-
old feud: Mar\landers and Virginians ar-
gued over the state line, which cut an
invisible line through the dark waters of
the Chesapeake Bay. Neither side wanted
the other to sneak across the border and

WASHINGTON. COLLEGE- MAGAZINE / SUMMER.

steal oysters, crabs, fish, and clams. No,
Earl Nelson wasn't going to give into the
fight because he was well aware of his
position. He knew he was in Maryland
waters. If he let Acree take him to Saxis,
he knew he'd lose his boat for sure and be
fined heavily in the process.

"Something funny?" Acree shifted his
weight hack and forth. His dark hair and
chiseled jaws gave him the look of a
strong canine.

Earl continued laughing. "You've got
to be kiddin' me, son. We're narth ot
Foxe's Island. I ain't doin' a damn thing
wrong. And you sure as hell ain't
takin' my boat." He turned his
back to the young deputy.

"I'm taking this boat whether
you like it or not." Acree's voice
lowered in a growl.

"Git off my boat, kid," he
yelled over his shoulder. "You
know we're in Merland."

Sweat beaded up on Acree's
brow and slipped down his tanned
face, cutting sharp angles on his
cheekbones and chin. He shitted
his weight again and again. His
fingers slipped down the barrel of
the gun and his sweaty palms
rubbed against the hot metal. He
stared at the back of the old crab-
ber who had laughed in his face
and defied his authority. Every-
thing in him wanted to strike out
in defense of his job, his state and
his manhood. Acree had served

four years in the United States

Navy in submarine duty, and he
returned to the area to work as a crop
duster. He had seen men like this hard
crabber before: men who fight tooth and
nail for weather beaten, financial sink-
holes they call their boats. His Navy train-
ing and his duty to his job reminded him
to stay focused, but something else
bubbled up inside of him like air pockets
escaping through hot asphalt. White re-
flections from the bay burned into his eyes
and lit his short-fused temper. The crabber
continued to laugh.

Acree's rifle lurched forward and a
bullet tore through the lower abdomen of
Earl Nelson. The force slammed the old
waterman's body forward against the
wheel, and he grabbed hold of it. His
body slumped over the wheel and fell to
the side. Earl put his hands over the
conjoining space where his hip and groin
met his abdomen; his eyes met the blue
spots on the deputy's face. Acree, without

a word, stalked off the boat and jumped
into the seaplane.

The blood came up between Earl's
fingers and he heard the plane take off.
Suddenly, the sun was the hottest it had
ever felt and Earl closed his eyes.

Watermen near Foxe's Island had been
watching the Virginia Fisheries plane
with anxious eyes. The feud made every-
one nervous, and over the past couple of
months, a few men had been shot over
the same problem in the lower Potomac.
The watermen nearby had witnessed the
shooting and rushed to Earl's boat. The

A little water slipped to the top of

the deck and mixed with the blood,

and like a phantom paintbrush, it

coated the deck of the workboat with

a bright red mucus. Each man stared
at the ghastly mess. Neither would

see anything like it again.

first men to his boat were Tom Marshall
and Calvin Marsh Jr., both Smith Island-
ers. As they climbed aboard the boat,
they found him bleeding from the front
and back, and barely alive. Nelson's blood
stained the entire boat - the deck, the
sidewalls, and the wheel, even the com-
pass. A little water slipped to the top of
the deck and mixed with the blood, and
like a phantom paintbnish, it coated the
deck of the workboat with a bright red
mucus. Each man stared at the ghastly
me.ss. Neither would see anything like it
again.

Tom Marshall grabbed the bloody
wheel and started hack to Crisfield while
Calvin Marsh dropped to his knees and
pressed his rough hands over the open
holes in the old crabber's body.

"Help me," he whispered.

The waterman nodded. He watched as
Nelson's sad gray eyes slowly closed and

his barrel chest stopped rising. When the
boat docked in Crisfield, Earl Nelson was
pronounced dead, the three youngest
children pronounced orphans.

John PAUL and several of his friends
raced on their bicycles to the Bradshaw
Funeral Home, the place where his
mother was kept before she was taken to
the cemetery. If his daddy was dead, then
that must he where he could find him. If
his daddy really was dead, then he had to
see for himself

The front doors ot the funeral home
were large glass doors. His hands
formed a periscope around his
eyes as he peered in the front
door. The place was so dark in-
side; he couldn't make out any-
thing. A tall man with a dark suit
opened the door, and asked John
Paul if he needed something.

"Yes. Some Virginia policeman
shot my daddy. And I'd... I'd like
to see him."

TTie tall man explained as best as
he could that his father was not yet
with him. He was sorr^- that he
couldn't help him. The young boy
looked familiar to him.

John Paul stared blankly at the
tall man in the dark suit. If he
wasn't inside lying on a table,
then where was he?

"I'm Sony, son, 1 don't know how
1 can help you." With that, John
Paul simply turned and got back on

his bicycle.

"I'm gonna go have a look at my
daddy's boat." John Paul and the boys
headed for the wharf.

When John Paul reached the docks,
he saw his father's boat moored against
the old wooden pilings of the lower
wharf. John Paul threw his bike down
and ran to the wooden edge, pushing his
way through the crowd of men and
straining his eyes in bright sun to make
sure his father was alive and well. But
what John Paul saw that day on the docks
changed his life forever. The boat was
av\'ash in blood and his father lay like a
carelessly gutted fish in the arms of an-
other waterman.

Lore than 400 people attended
the viewing of Earl Lee Nelson as all of
Crisfield, Somerset County, and other
local towns turned out to pay their re-
spects. Two re\'erends and a full choir
presided over his open casket service.

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www W A S H C O L L E D U

The six children were all present: Earl Jr.
with hahy Dorcas, Gene, Royce, John
Paul and David, who had recently turned
five years old. Each son took his turn at
his father's side for one last time.

Earl Jr. held his haby sister in his arms
as they both stared down at their father.
When he walked away, Dorcas stared
back at Earl Sr.'s calm face.

David walked alone to his father's cas-
ket. He stood on the tips of his shiny black
shoes to peer at his father and then, as
though he understood everything, he
turned to the choir with tears streaming
down his face that looked so much
like his dead father's. No one
moved as he turned back toward
his father's casket. A little ledge
provided him with footing enough
to peer down inside. He choked
and wailed as he nudged his father
with his small hands. At last,
David hoisted himself over the
edge of the casket and curled up
on top of his father's chest, his
white-blonde head underneath his
father's stiff chin. A lady came
forward and picked him up out ot
the casket as he screamed for his
dead father.

Then there was silence.

John Paul was the last to look.
He slowly took each step to the
casket. His mother had just been
here, had just looked like this.
When he reached his father for
the last time, he felt something

tear inside his young body. The

onlookers watched as John Paul
finally hurst into tears and slumped over
the casket; grief pulled him to his knees.
A few people rushed to the child, and
helped him back to his seat. Nelson's best
friend, a weathered old crabber from
Crisfield, sang hymns as they closed the
service.

When they arrived at the Sunnyridge
Memorial Park where Earl was to be
buried next to his wife, David was the
first out of the car. Walking up to the
burial site, David turned and asked,
"What's all these pretty flowers for?"

His question was met with silence.
Earl Jr. took his brother's hand and led
him to the closed casket. The brothers
stood close to each other, uncertain, dev-
astated and angry, with bowed heads as
the last of their parents was lowered into
the ground.

Drawing Lines in the Salt

The funeral of Earl Nelson was
only the beginning. The incident
sparked a heated flare-up in an old de-
bate between the states of Maryland and
Virginia that had been ongoing for more
than 150 years. The tension had finally
reached a horrible climax. ...

Up and down the Chesapeake, there
was gunfire and bloodshed, especially
when the oyster boom of the 1880s hit.
Watermen fiercely protected their rights
and their beds. Each state was easy on

Their loyalty to this
never-ending work exceeds the

length ot light scattered by the

waves, and their frustration with

the looming end of their

business will outlive even

their grandchildren.

its reported misfits, most troublemakers
got away with a small fine and a slap on
the wrist. Maryland and Virginia were
not interested in punishing their own
men; they were interested in crucifying
the enemy. The har\-ests were rapacious.
Even oyster policemen were caught
stealing and dredging illegally.

To The Last

L.N OLD SAYING exists among the
remaining watermen: "If a man found the
very last oyster in the Chesapeake, he'd
gladly sell it to you." Truly, this is the
saddest story of self-defeat yet told.

For centuries of time and generations
of people, the Chesapeake Bay has been
the central backbone of Maryland's and
Virginia's culture. It has served as a pro-
vider for living while awakening passion-

ate Iciyalties that destroyed lives. So
much has resulted from this body of water
that lies in the middle of two states, with
its arms and legs that stretch out at its
sides and entangle the lands of Maryland
and Virginia.

The watennen of the Chesapeake are a
dying breed. Few men can now fully recall
the days when thousands of oyster rigs
jammed the Tangier Sound, tonging for
their fill of the sweet and salty shellfish.
No longer do the watermen mount ma-
chine guns on their bows, ready to stake
their lives for their har\'est. The sad, des-
perate irony of their situation is
that they have put themselves in
this position - the bay's plentiful
harvests were not going to last an
eternity, but the rapacious harvests
continued with a blatant disregard
for the future of their industry and,
more importantly, the future of the
Chesapeake.

The remaining watermen oi the
Chesapeake Bay rise every morn-
ing and greet the dawn on the
bows of battered workboats. Their
day will start earlier than the ones
their forefathers saw, and their
days will end long after their an-
cestors would have docked. But
still they fight with hands thick in
salt-white calluses, and their
burned faces still carr>' the sun-
bleached beards of their grandfa-
thers. Their loyalty to this never-
ending work exceeds the length of

light scattered by the waves, and

their frustration with the looming
end of their business will outlive even
their grandchildren.

But the Chesapeake Bay will continue
to reach into the heart of the land, and
race into the Atlantic down by the Capes,
sweeping past towns and cities and trying
to mask its bounty below. Mary landers and
Virginians, when they stand out on
beaches and sandy points, inexplicably
feel the infliction of decades of trauma and
when they turn their backs on the cold
waters of the Chesapeake they feel Icist.
After all, the tragedy of the Chesapeake is
one that belongs to us all, each and every
one, to the last. >

Stephanie Fowler intends to spend the com-
ing months researching and writing mare sto-
ries of the Eastern Shore, and then eruieavor-
ing to have her book of stories published.

WASHINGTON. COLLEGE. WAG. A ZINE / SUMMER-

IN SEARCH OF
a family 's

HISTORY

JACOB RITZLER, AN INTERNATIONAL STUDIES MAJOR,

recently traveled to Slovakia and the Czech Republic to piece together

the tapestry of his family history. While he discovered the roots of the

Stiefel family, he also found a disturbing continuation of anti-Semitism and the

disappearance of Jewish identity among the new generation oi Slovakia.

FORTY-SEVEN MEMBERS of my grandfather's
tamily were killed in the Holocaust; my grandfa-
ther, Frantisek Stiefel, and his two brothers,
Mikalaus and Tihor, were the only survivors
from the immediate tamily. When my grandfa-
ther died in 1999 and his brother Mikalaus died
in 2000, 1 decided to chronicle as much of the
Stiefel tamily history as possible. It was then that 1 conceived of
the Junior Fellows research project that would take me to
Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Poland in search of the
stories of my family. With a video camera and a tew words of
Czech {pivo means beer and zachot means bathroom), 1 boarded a
plane for Prague on December 18, 2000.

I spent my first night in Eastern Europe on an overnight train
in a cabin the size of closet, with two Slovaks who did not

understand English. The next morning, I arrived in the town of
Kosice in the eastern area of Slovakia. There a distant relative
met me and brought me to her family's house. Strangely, I
experienced no sense of culture shock. With my Slovakian
relatives, I felt as though 1 was back in my grandparents' home.
By far the happiest person to see me was my grandfather's Aunt
Truda. She cried when 1 came, she cried when 1 left, she even
cried while 1 was there. A sur\'i\'or of .'\uschwitz, .■\unt Truda
was so happy to realize that she still had more tamily somewhere
in the world.

1 realized later that there was another reason why Truda cried.
She saw in me a future generation of Jews who are proud of being
Jewish. One of my cousins told me a story that explains what
Truda felt. One day, Truda was walking with one of her
granddaughters in rhe town center. A^ they passed the small

B Y

JACOB

RITZLER

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S U M M E R - ; 0 0 I / W .^ < H I N C. T O N - C O L L E O E ■ M .'K G .A Z I N E

W^X'WWASHCOLL EDU

remnants of the local Jewish community' center, her granddaugh-
ter turned to her and said, "I'm glad that I'm not Jewish." Truda,
a survivor of the concentration camps, was surely devastated by
the fact that some of her grandchildren did not even understand
that they are Jewish. All of Truda's grandchildren knew that she
was Jewish and that she had escaped from Auschwitz, hut Truda's
daughter had raised her children without any knowledge of their
background or identity'. So whenever Truda saw me, she cried.

It was nice to meet my family, but I was there with a purpose.
With the help of my grandmother, I had put together a list of
possible contacts. Fortunately, Truda knew many of the people
on my list; unfortunately, many of them were dead. Starting with
Truda, I began my interviews. I traveled to the neighboring town
of Vranov, where my family had lived for 200 years. There I
found the house where my grandfather was horn and raised. I also
found a 96-year-old neighbor, who drank like a fish but still
remembered the family. As I was introduced to some more
people, the picture of what happened to my family slowly came
together.

In Eastern Slovakia, I learned that my great-grandfather,
Dezidor, was a best friend of the first President of Czechoslovakia
and was the President of the Slovakian Social Democrats Party.
He was one of the first people to be taken into custody by the
Germans. He was imprisoned not for his religious beliefs, but
because he was a socialist. After Dezidor's capture, four of the
eight children fled. Uncle Mike stayed to watch his mother and
three younger siblings. My grandfather, Alexander, Tibor, and
Ludvig scattered to different areas of Slovakia.

Only three years later, Tibor was in Israel, Alexander had died
fighting in the 1943 Slovak uprising, Ludvig had disappeared.

and Dezidor had been released from the political prison, only to
be taken to Auschwitz. There, he was shot trying to carry a
fellow prisoner who could no longer walk. My great-grand-
mother and her two daughters were taken to Auschwitz in 1942
and immediately killed. At 17, the youngest brother, Tomas, was
killed during the uprising. He had been taken prisoner and
forced to dig a mass grave where he and his friends were burned
and then buried.

Uncle Mike and my grandfather were lucky they both joined
the Slovak army, but they were immediately transferred to labor
camps. The brothers were in two different camps, but during the
Slovak uprising they were able to organize revolts in their camps
and escape to fight in the northern mountains of Slovakia.
Neither saw each other during the war; they only heard of one
another's exploits. Uncle Mike became a spy, while my grandfa-
ther rose to the rank of captain, independently commanding a
small group of partisans. It was a position that led to his
becoming a high member in the Czechoslovakian Communist
Party, and then to his running from the disapproval of the party
to take refuge in the United States (where, ironically enough, he
became a Republican).

These were the stories I heard from my family's old friends,
who also led me to the cemetery- in Vranov where many of my
ancestors are buried. Today, it is still being ransacked by anti-
Semites and grave robbers who come to vandalize, steal from
corpses that are buried with no worldly possessions, or take the

Left, Frantisek Stiefel. Jacob Ritzler's grandfather, was President of the
Town Council for Karlovy Vary and a police commissioner for the Czech
area of northwestern Czechoslovakia. He Is pictured here In September
1948 In Prague, where he was attending a political meeting.
Below, Pavel and Mary Elzelt. a Catholic couple In Bratislava, hid
Frantisek Stiefel and his family from the Nazis for a year. Stiefel worked
for the Elzelts in 1943 under false papers, using the name Frantisek
Schullter. Today. Bratislava is the capital ot Slovakia. On the previous
page. Lily and Anna Stiefel (at far left). Ritzler's great-aunts, are pictured
here in 1941 with a group of other Jewish girls from Vranov. In 1942, the
Stiefel girls and their mother were taken to Auschwitz, where they died.

W.'vSHINGTON. COLLEGE-MAGAZINE ( SUMMER-

headstones to resell them. Luckily, I was
able to provide the groundskeeper with
the names of a few organizations in the
United States that may be able to help
preserve this Jewish cemetery that is
over 250 years old.

I left Slovakia with a greater under-
standing of the history of my family, but
my next stop — Auschwitz — left me with
no understanding of humanity. What
happened in that concentration camp
defies comprehension. 1 walked its paths
and buildings and crematoriums, and 1
videotaped it all. The only thought that
kept coming to me was that this could
have been me. 1 could have been one of
those children, producing drawings of
dragons breathing fire in representation
of the crematoriums. I could have been
in my great-grandfather's place, and 1
am not sure I could have been as brave
as he was, brave enough to try to help
another prisoner, knowing it would
mean possible death. 1 am not sure I
would have had the strength my grand-
father had not only to escape, but also to
fight for his homeland. I could hope that
1 would be that brave, but it might not
have mattered, because had 1 been alive
at that time, they would have killed me
because I am Jewish.

As 1 traveled from Poland to Prague
and then around the rest of the Czech
Republic, 1 gathered information about
the later half of my grandfather's life in
the Czechoslovakian government and his
escape to the United States. I visited
more friends of my grandfather's family,
and I learned of some distant relatives
who had moved to the United States.
The story came together, and today it is
nearly all written down. It is not much,
but it is more than existed abotit my
family a few months ago.

My grandfather only told small parts
of his story, but I remember them vividly.
Sometimes his voice trembled. Some-
times his eyes watered as he described his
little sisters. Sometimes he looked fierce.
Sometimes he looked at me and did not
say a word, but he always told his tales
with pride. Now 1 am the storyteller. 1
have put myself in his place, taken up his
voice, and pass his stories, my stories,
along. I

Jacob Ritzkr's video project was supported
with a grant from the Society oj junior
Fellows.

The Uprising

by Jacob Ritzier

tories began to circulate about
death camps. We heard that
those Jews who had been "relo-
cated" were sent to labor camps if they
were lucky, and to death camps if they
were not. We all considered ourselves
prisoners now; we were still alive only
because there were some generals in the
Slovak government who were not anti-
Semites. Up until that point we were
protected. That knowledge did not
make life in the camps any more bear-
able. We worked 18 hours a day — some-
times roadwork, sometimes work on the
canals. Once we were taken to a muni-
tions factory, but we were immediately
sent away, because we could not be
trusted to work with arms that would be
carried by German soldiers. So, we re-
sumed our labor in the winter cold.

As months past and summer came,
rumors were rampant. The name
"Auschwitz" was on everybody's lips.
Some talked late into the night about a
resistance that was forming in the forest
and mountain areas of the High Tartras
in the north. 1 was one of those who
dreamed of resistance, and in the early
weeks of July, I made contact with a
friend. He had managed to buy false pa-
pers and was living under an assumed
name. In contact with the resistance in
the north, he brought information to
the camp every week. An attack was
being planned.

One day in August, that day came.
Sounds of rifle fire were coming from
town. A Gennan soldier drove into
camp and spoke with the commandant,
who immediately dispatched guards to
the town. It was already evening and
our unit was in the barracks.

Earlier, my friend had managed to
sneak a pistol into the camp, which we
concealed under a loose floorboard in
the barrack. Realizing this might be my

only chance to escape, I gathered 22
men who I knew would follow me
and we snuck from our barrack, left
unguarded because so many guards
had been sent to quell the distur-
bance in the town. We were un-
armed, weak and underfed, but we
were desperate. We had played out
the scenario of this possibility over
and over again. We knew that our
only hope lay in taking the guards'
barracks and commandeering as many
weapons as possible.

It worked perfectly. We made our
way to the Commandant's office.
There were no soldiers nearby, and
before he realized it we had him tied
up and my gun was pointed at his
head. We marched him into the bar-
racks and made him tell the four
guards still there to hand over their
weapons. Unarmed, the guards ran
before any of the prisoners could
think of revenge. I locked the Com-
mandant in a storage room and took
my men back out into the camp. We
were still 22 men, but with only nine
guns. After a sweep of the camp, we
managed to free all 100 prisoners and
subdue the other six guards who had
been left behind.

In town, we came upon the guards
from camp. Again, we were able to
overcome them and take their guns.
Of the 100 prisoners, 40 were still fol-
lowing me. The others had scattered.
That night we ran for the woods. We
agreed to find the partisan forces to
the north and join them in their fight
against the Nazis.

After a few days, we came upon a
unit. It was motley mix of men from
all of Europe. Tliere were Russians,
Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Hungarians,
and even a few French men who had
escaped concentration camps. Nearly
halt of them were Jewish. We joined
them, for we were not fighting for our
country, but for our lives.

SUMMER

«' .^ S H I N 0 T O N - C O L L E C E - M .■^ G .■V Z I N E

WWtt'.>*'ASHCOLL EDU

ALUMNI

UPDATE

Wickedly Wonderful Reunion
Came This Way

DESPITE THE last-
minute cancellation of
writer Ray Bradbury;
Reunion 2001 activities
stro\'e to li\e up to this year's
Bradbur^'-inspired theme —
Something Wicked (-ly
Wonderful) This Way
Comes. Alumni, seniors,
families and friends enjoyed
a full weekend of activities
ranging from walking tours
to boat trips on the Chester
River.

The Life After Liberal
Arts seminar highlighted the
accomplishments of Kevin
Noblet '75, a veteran jour-
nalist whose teams of inter-
national reporters won two
Pulitzer Prizes for the Associ-
ated Press, and Tammy
Tiehel Stedman '86, an
Academy Award-winning
film producer.

For many, the highlight ot
the weekend was settling
into Tawes Theater to watch
"My Mother Dreams the
Satan's Disciples in New

York," the acclaimed film
Stedman produced. Viewers
of all ages enjoyed the thrill
of holding Stedman's Oscar,
which she passed around the
audience. "It's always a party
favorite," she said.

Chilly temperatures and
the threat of rain forced the
picnic and the dinner/dance
into the Johnson Lifetime
Fitness Center. Despite the
change in venue, both
events drew record crowds. >

Denton And
Flato Elected
To Board

AT THE .ANNUAL
breakfast meeting in
May, the Alumni As-
sociation members unani-
mously appro\'ed the slate of
new officers as presented by
Susan Stobbart Shapiro '91,

College President John Toll greets Ermyn Jewell Heck 74. the oldest
alumna to attend Reunion festivities.

Association President, and
welcomed two new alumni-
elected trustees.

John Flato '69 and Susan
Thomas Denton '69 were
elected to six-year terms on
the Board of Visitors and
Governors, beginning July 1 ,
2001. Denton, who was re-
elected to a second term, is
President of Denton and As-
sociates, a fund raising and
public relations firm m
Queenstown, MD. She will
continue to ser\'e as chair of
the Board's Admissions
Committee. John Flato is Di-
rector of College Recruiting
at Ernst & Young in New
York City. He is a former
member of the Alumni
Council, a current member
of the Visiting Committee
and an adviser to the

Sue Denton '69 (left) and John
Flato '69 are College trustees.

College's Center for Career
Development. >

Directory To
Mail Soon

BERNARD C. HARRIS
Publishing Company
IS in the final stages of
acquiring and editing bio-
graphical information to be
included in the Washington
College .Alumni Directory
2001. Directories will be
mailed in early December.

If you haven't already
done so, please respond to
the Harris questionnaire by
calling toll free 1-800-829-
8532.

Alumni may order books
directly from Harris. The di-
rectory IS $69.99 for the
regular edition, and $79.99
for the CD-ROM version, ft

W A S H I N G T O N - C O L L E G E . M A G .-\ Z I N E / S U .M M E R -

College Raft
Nearly
Clinches Tea
Party Race

by Paul O'Heam '97

A GROUP FROM
Washington College
took to the high seas
of the mighty Chester River
to participate in the annual
Chestertown Tea Party Raft
Race in May. The raft was
painstakingly and lovingly
fashioned over a matter of
hours out of plywood, nylon
rope and the finest hlue
plastic barrels available in
all the Upper Shore. Metal
piping with plywood
screwed to the end served
as oars. No expense was
spared.

The group consisted of six
rowers: Charlie Athey '01,
Carlton Hughes '02, assistant
tennis coach Salim Chraihi,

assistant swimming coach
Scott StemmuUer '96, Jason
Miller, and Paul O'Heam
'97. Jenny An '96 called the
strokes and Molly Herr '02
subbed into the rowing
lineup when someone
needed a rest.

The doughty vessel and
her fearless crew claimed
third place out of 12 rafts,
much to the delight of hun-
dreds who had come to
watch the spectacle. While
other craft (dare I say boats?)
were faster, and others still
more creatively decorated,
this group's ground-breaking
floating-square-harge design
proved up to the task. It won
acclaim for finishing in the
top three while constantly
on the verge of sinking into
the murky depths of the
Chester, which, it should be
noted, had already swallowed
a pair of rafts.

A great time was had by
all and (top-secret) plans are
already in the works for a
new raft next year. >

Following the "Life After Liberal Arts" discussion, Tammy Tiehel Stedman
'86 stiares lier Oscar witli tier former German professor, Joactiim Scholz,
whom she remembers as being extraordinarily caring to his students.

WASHINGTON COLLEGE, YOUR WILL, AND MISSING WORDS

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.■\ S H I N G T O N - C O L L E C E - M .^ G -^ Z i N E

W \f W . Vl' A S H C O L L E D U

CLASS

NOTES

1933

MARY PARK FRIEL

is the proud great -grandmother
of three great-grandsons. The
latest, Jacob WiUiam Friel, was
bom April 1 1, 2001 to Gina
and Jay Friel. Jacob joins big
brother Samuel, 1 8 months.

1934

DOROTHY KIMBLE RYAN

lu'es in Salishur\-, ML~), with her
daughter, Mar\' Carol\Ti Ryan
Tilghman '64, and her husband,
Phil Tilghman '64. Dot \-olun-
teers at the hospital in Salisbury,
where she took part in Teddy
Bear Repair Day. Children
brought their ailing stuffed ani-
mals to the hospital outpatient
area and followed the procedure
of a patient coming in for treat-
ment. "Surgeon Dot" and other
volunteers did the repair work,
some of which was extremely
challenging, but which made
some children \'ery happy.

WALTER K. MOFFEH

celebrated both his 87th birth-
day and his and wife Doris' 65 th
wedding annn-ersar^- in Febru-
ary. Walter was employed by the
Fabrics and Finishes Department
of the duPont Company for 39
years and tor three years during
World War 11 was chief chemi-
cal engineer of the Wabash
River Ordnance Works. In 1997
the Moffetts retired to sunny
Florida.

1939

MARY BROWN MOORE

has a great-grandchild, Morgan
Stewart Hanson, bom in Octo-
ber 1999.

1950

WILLIAM AND JANE GALLOWAY
WARTHER '51

will celebrate their 52nd anni-
versary on June 26, 2001.

1955

DONALD OWINGS

finds it fascinating that, after

majoring m English, he has
spent his career as director of ad-
ministrative computer services
at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn,
NY. Nevertheless, he finds his
career challenging and enjoy-
able.

1957

JESSIE MILLER COLEMAN

became a great-grandmother on
December 2, 2000 to Natalie
Elizabeth McColIum.

RALPH AND ELAINE GLENDON LAWS

Ralph is working tor the Trea-
sury Department and until the
end of June sensed as an adviser
in Srpska, Bosnia.

1959

SALLY GROOME COOPER

and a number ot Alpha Chi's
from '59 and '60 have recon-
nected in the past year. She still
tries to "boss" her little sister,
Sally Brown Lackey, "and she
still doesn't listen to me." Sally
works as a teacher at Riverhill
High School in Howard County,
MD, and also sen.-es on the ani-
mal care and youth committee
ot the National Institute on
Drug Abuse.

BARBARA FREY AGNEW

writes: ".As a result ot the No-
x'ember 2000 elections, the
Democratic Vermont Speaker of
the House lost his House major-
ity, and his job. Consequently,
so did 1. 1 got lucky again,
though, and moved on to the
govemcir's office as special assis-
tant for boards and commissions.
As an 'exempt' state employee, 1
may have to waft out of here in
two years, but it is mteresting
and challenging while it lasts."

1964

WILLIAM MORGAN

is semi-retired after 35 years as
an independent insurance agent.

MARGARET FLACCUS CANADA

finished her master's degree in

Dr. Ralph Thornton '40. former English professor, recently celebrated his
81" birthday.

community counseling from
Fairfield Unu'ersir^' and is work-
ing as a national hoard-certified
counselor with a domestic abuse
agency.

1967

MARK SCHULMAN, PH.D.,

IS President-elect of the Ameri-
can Association for Public
Opinion Research (AAPOR),
one of the nation's largest orga-
nizations of public opinion, mar-
ket research and social research
professionals.

1968

HENRY AND KATHLEEN AGNEW
BIDDLE '70

are proud parents of Erin, a jun-
ior at Boston College, who was
inducted mto Psi Chi, the na-
tional honor society' in psychol-
ogy, and the National Honor
Society of Collegiate Scholars.
Erin also traveled to Amsterdam
in September for course work m
international studies.

DENNIS LANE

is the founder and chair ot

WASHINGTON-COLLEGE- M.^GAZINE / SUMMER

Vermont's only \'iable third po-
litical party, the Vermont
Grassroots Party. He was the
party's candidate for president in
2000. Dennis also is a freedom
fightmg cannabis activist and is
active in the hemp industry.

1969

THEODORE PARKS

and his wife are happy to report
the marriage of their son, Jer-
emy, to Emily Masura, on Sep-
tember 30, 2000, m Winston-
Salem, NC.

DIANA HILL KELLER

and her husband, Robert, an-
nounce the marriage of their
son, Scott, in October.

1971

JIM DILLON

loves his job as a speech thera-
pist tor adolescents in Gonzales,
CA, a pretty farm town. "Lots of
hilltop stargazing. Family flour-
ishing."

1972

ANN HILLARD LILLY

works at ,i Baltimore law fimi
when not tra\-eling in France.
Her husband, Tom '73, is a vari-
ety entertainer traipsing the
mid-Atlantic region.

BOB METAXA

writes; "Harford Community
College and Washington Col-
lege prepared me well for the
course my lite took after gradua-
tion. 1 have spent my working
career in the area of civil rights,

first with the Broward County
Office of Community- Relations
and, since 1976, with the U.S.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, where 1 have in-
vestigated thousands of employ-
ment discrimination cases. I am
a super\'isory' investigator with
the Miami District Office, and 1
have a great office with a view
of the Port of Miami and
Biscayne Bay. Washington Col-
lege and, in particular, sociology
professors Horsley and Grouf,
raised my stx:ial awareness." Boh
is the father of Morgan Eliza-
beth, 12, and a stepson. Cliff,
"who has given me two beautiful
grandchildren. 1 reside in
Deerfield Beach and unexpect-
edly added excitement to my life
by purchasing a Chr^'sler FT
Cruiser and a Harley Davidson
Softail Classic."

1973

NORBERTO VIAMONTE

and his wife, Patricia Perry
Viamonte '74, have returned
from Spain and live in Ohio.

1974

VICKY CRENSON LAZELL

.md her d.uii;hcer ^pcnt Thanks-
giving with Lynn Virgilio OgiK'y
'75. Lynn said they both had fun
talking and laughing, just as
they did when they went to
WC.

ROSANNE JOHNSON JARRELL

li\es in Clo^ti-T, NJ, and recently
was elected to the Ekiard of Di-
rectors of the Center tor Food

Douglas DarnowskI
(far left), assistant
professor of
biology, led a
group of alumni on
a tour of Longwood
Gardens near
Wilmington, DE. In
May. Ttie tour of
"Fatal Flora and
Other Signs of
Spring " was part of
WC Odyssey 2001:
Faculty-Guided
Tours of Museums
and Other Cool
Places.

Action, a non-profit food bank
serving the hungry and homeless
in northern New jersey. An ac-
tive volunteer tor se\'eral years,
Rosanne recently raised $30,000
by organizing the Center's golf
outing. When not doing chari-
table work, she is vice president
of Oritani Savfrigs Branch.

1975

BOB HICKMAN

and hi^ entire family are proud
to announce that their daughter,
Katie, will attend WC this com-
ing fall. "Now our family will
ha\e more involvement with
WC and the Chestertown com-
munity-. We all look fonvard to
the next tour years!"

JOHN LORD

wanted to participate in Profes-
sor Day's lecture on illuminated
letters at the Getty Museum but
had to stay home and nurse a
hip injury. He's looking forvvaid
to future WC events in Califor-

JOE CONNOR

"Oigi ,ind 1 continue to live in
Towson, ML). Our son Mac just
finished his junior year at Perm
State, and our daughter Jill just
completed 7th grade at the Ca-
thedral School in Baltimore."

1976

STEVEN (JEFF) BAXTER
launched CardClues.com, a new
consumer credit card decision
guide Web site. After a career in
banking and spending the '90s

building a consulring practice,
Jeff decided to jump on board
the Internet bandwagon. If it
doesn't fly, he'll revert to playing
golf and blackjack in Las Vegas
with his former clients. Jeff lives
in Forest Hill, MD, with his
wife, Susan, sons Kyle, 16, and
Will, 14, and their dog. Tripper.

DANIEL N. SCHARF

lives in Dana Pomt, CA, near
Laguna Beach. After a long stay
in the fashion clothing business
as a national sales manager for a
\-ariets' of companies, including
ESPRIT, he left to be an artistic
painter. He has tour children:
Sarah, Hannah, Colby and
Tucker.

1977

NANCY TRAVERS COLLINS

is a new grandmother to
Mackenzie Ann.

1978

KAREN JARRELL

still lues in Madnd with her
daughter Luisa, 18, and her hus-
band, Avelino. Karen works for
the American International
Group as an English consultant.
She "would lo\-e to hear from
anybody else in my class in per-
son or %'ia e-mail, particularly Liz
Butler, Steve Kinlock, Robin
Brown, Vema Wilkins or Joanne
Miller."

1980

ROBERT CHAPONIS.

who IS working on his doctorate,
was visited by X lark Chapman
'80 this past winter.

MARK CHAPMAN

still works at tlie Langley School
in McLean, VA, in the develop-
ment office. He'd like to hear
from old friends at
mchapman@langley.edu.net.

1981

JULIE WHEELER CYRAN

is a de\elopment manager for
IBM in Southbur^', CT.

1982

JULIE scon GARTLAND

fecei\ cil tour aw ards tor her
WTiting from the Ne«' Jersey
Press Association in April. .A
lifestyle feature wTiter tor the
Messinigcr-Prcss and W'indsor-
Hights Hcroid newspapers, she
was awarded first place tor fea-

S U M M E R . 2 0 0 1 / «' .^ S H 1 N O T O N . C O L L E G E - M .1 C .A Z I N E

»■»;'»■ \V A S H C O L L - E D U

1985

MONICA JARMER KNUCKLES

and husband, Gar^', celebrated
their 10th anni\-ersar>' in May.
Tliey ha\e two children —
Samantha, 5, and Steven, 3.
Monica writes, "I am currently
employed hy the Federal Bureau
of Investigation Laboratory- in
Washington, DC, as a forensic
examiner/chemist. My area of
specialty' is in paints, pressure-
sensitive tapes and polymers in
general. This work is done not
only for the FBI but for any fed-
eral, state or local agency re-
questing a forensic examination.
I then get to trax'el all o\-er the
U.S. to testify- to my results as an
expert witness. 1 ha\'e trax'eled to
Saudi Arabia, Kenya, South Af-
rica, Samoa, American Samoa,
Guam, Argentina and Panama. 1
have testified m the Oklahoma
City- bombing tnal, the bombing
of Rorida A&M University-,
many homicide cases and hit-
and-fun fatalities. I worked on
the Jon Benet Ramsey case, the
World Trade Center bombing,
the Atlanta Ol^Tnpic Park
bombing, the sniper homicide of
Dr. Slepian and many other na-
tional and international cases.
When 1 am not glohetrottmg, I
stay in my quiet little home in
Southern Mar\'land and ride my
horses, feed my chickens and
tend my gardens."

1986

LYNNE AniAS-ALLEGRA

was promoted recently to Asso-
ciate Director, Organizational
Development for Pharmacia,
Consumer Healthcare m the
Americas. L\Tme, husband
Michael and daughter Ashley, 8,
reside in Bedminster, N].
Lynne is working on her
master's degree in organiza-
tional behavior.

In March, English professor Robert
Day (to immediate left of sign)
guided a group of alumni in
California through an exhibit of
illuminated manuscripts at the J.
Paul Getty Museum. From this
WC Odyssey 2001 tour stop in Los
Angeles, Professor Day headed to
Phoenix, where he met another
group of alumni at the Frank Lloyd
Wright Museum.

W.ASHINGTON.COLLEGE-M.AG.AZINE / SUMMER.

ture wTiting, first place for
"freshest treatment of a tired
topic," third place for education
writing, and third place for spe-
cial subject uTiting. She began
as a freelance wTiter for
Princeton Packet Publications
in 1998. She attributes most of
her success in writing to her lib-
eral arts education and the
Welsh spirit within her. She
lives in AUentowTi, NJ, with her
husband, Robert, and two sons.

PETER TURCHI

co-edited a book with Charles
Baxter, titled B7inoing the Deiil to
His Knees: The Craft of Fiction
and the Writing Life, published by
the University' of Michigan
Press. He also uTOte a short
story, "Black Eye," which ap-
peared in the spring issue of The
Cokrrado Review, and a profile ot
poet Heather McHugh that will
appear in the literary journal
Ploughshares later this year.

DAVID PDINTON

and his family — wife Mary Lou,
Kelly, 10, Rachel 8, and Jackson,
5 — have relocated to
Singapore, where Dave is inter-
national business de\'elopment
manager for 3M Company.
Dave coordinates activities in 1 7
countries for 3M's traffic and
personal safety business. If you
are in the area, contact Da\'e at
dapoint 1 @mmm.com.

1983

LINDA BENSON

and her husband, Rob, moved
to Virginia's Northern Neck and
love it. They plan to buy a larger
sailboat and head across the At-
lantic for Europe and the Medi-
terranean next year.

MELANIE PULLEN GNESS

joined Dell Computer as the se-
nior manager of public affairs in
Washington, DC. Her husband,
Peter, is a consultant and golfer.
Son Tyler is in first grade; he
plays soccer and baseball and
takes karate lessons.

1984

LINDSEY EVANS-THOMAS

is still workmg m the film pro-
duction field and taking care of
her irwo-year-old.

ODETTE POWERS NEWTON

li\'es m Houston with husband
Billy and children Jessica, Rick
and Sophia.

JULIE LOESCH WALROND

and her husband, Thomas, live
in G\v\Tiedd Valley, PA. Tho-
mas is head ot Ra^Tnond James
Financial in Philadelphia.

1987

TODD DEL PRIORE

recently became a life member
of the Bethesda-Chev7 Chase
Rescue Squad and continues as
a member ot its Board of Direc-

SUSAN M. KOLLS

would lo\ e to hear from mem-
bers ot her class, especially
Allyson Halhach, Chns DiPietro
and Vincent H\Tison, at
lenmasterl O00@mediaone.net.

MARK NASTEFF

practices law in Kansas City,
MO. He has two children. Trey,
6, and Maddi, 4!/:, and looks tor-
ward to getting together with
Pat McMenamin and Lincoln
Kamoft this summer.

1988

KRISTINA TATUSKO HENRY

is the marketmg and de\'elop-
ment coordinator tor the Acad-
emy Art Museum in Easton,
MD. Last spring Kristina ser\'ed
as a panelist on Children's Book
Market, a Mary-land wxiters' pro-
gram sponsored by the Bethesda
Writing Center.

GEOFFREY W. GIBBONS

rents scooters m Bennuda and
enjoys his d-iree children —
Lavwence, 4, and twins Abigail
and Danielle, 2.

1989

TOM CONATY

and his wife, Jennifer, live in
Wilmington, DE, with their 2-
year-old daughter, Louise Tracy.
Tom recently was appointed co-
president of the Wilmington
area alumni chapter.

TRAVIS ALDOUS

sends congratulations to Ed
Conrad on his completion of
training at Ric Halt's Wrestling
Academy. Ed has been signed to
a developmental contract with
the World Wrestling Federation.

ERIKA JANSSON SWARTZKOPF

is a librari.iii m .m all-girls pri-
vate school on the island of
Oahu. "Weekends find me play-
ing harmonica in a blues band
or paintmg abstract watercolors.
1 am cunently putting together
an exhibition of some of my
works. 'Aloha' to everyone in
the class of 1989."

WALTER SPENCE

Writes: ".Afrer an 1 1 -year w-hirl-
wind tour ot the deep south,
Louisiana and Arkansas, 1 finally
got back home to Richmond,
VA, where 1 still work with
Alcoa, formerly known as
Re>-nolds Metals, as the rolling
superintendent tor foil products.
1 am returning with my wife
Suzanne, daughter Briana, 8, son

R T H S

AND

ADOPTIONS

To Jennifer and Rick Franz *76, a
daughter, Nadeline Bea, on March

21,2001.

To Julie Wheeler Cyran '81 and
husband, Michael, a son,
Nicholas James, on December 27,
2000. Nicholas joins big brother
Justin, 2.

To Jessica Fowler Vaughan *82, a
daughter, Claire, on May 9, 2000.
Claire joins two brothers and a
sister.

Jennifer Nyman White '94 and
her husband, Sandy, are living
In Springville, UT. Sandy is
finishing his residency in family
medicine. Jen stays at home
with their three children
(pictured, from left): Hannah,
Maddie and Spencer. Spencer
was born October 2, 2000.

To Emily J. Morris *82 and hus'
band, Gus Litonjua, a daughter,
Kathryn, on December 12, 2000.

To Laurie Betz Tillet *84 and hus-
band, Daniel, a daughter, Sarah
Ann, on January 18, 2001. Sarah
Ann joins big sister Emily, 2.

To Carolyn Ellis Sands '85 and
husband, Sean, a son, William
Michael, on November 5, 2000.
Will joins big sisters Maggie, 4,
and Lauren, 2.

To Susan M. KoUs '87 and hus-
band, Neadson, a son, Ryder
James, on December 28, 2000.
Ryder joins sister Zee Elizabeth, 5.

To Camille Dickerson '88 a son,
Grahm Wesley, on August 1 1 ,
1999.

To Susan Odenath Eversull '88
and husband, William, a son, Liam
Christian, on June 4, 2000. He
joins brother Ian Connor, 4.

To Sarah Moore Pyle '90 and hus-
band, Cary, a son, Charlie, on Oc-
tober 25, 2000.

To Mamie Shehan Suckell '90 and
husband, Chris, a daughter,
Alexandra Nicole, on September 1 ,

2000.

To Kelly Smokovich Van Buren
'90 and Peter Van Buren '90, a
daughter, Lauren, on December
14, 2000. Lauren joins big brother
Christopher, 2.

To Heather Donovan Phillips '9 1
and husband, Joe, a daughter,
Kiersten Margaret, on December
22, 2000. Kiersten joins big
brother Liam and big sister
Catalyn.

To Matthew Giller '91 and wife,
Catherine, a daughter, Isabelle, on

Megan Ballard Carlton '85 (left), mother of one-year-old twin daughters
Hadley and Alexandra (far right, held by Leslie d'Ablemont Feeley '88),
hosted a mini-reunion at her home in Marblehead, MA. Amy
d'Ablemont Burnes '85 (center) holds her daughter Orly, born February
21, 2001. Leslie is expecting her second child in June.

February 2, 2001. Isabelle joins
big brother Robby, almost 2.

To Alix Goode Rickloff '91 and
husband, John *90, a son, Tho-
mas Edward, on September 9,
2000. Thomas joins older sister
Georgia.

To Veryan Beacham Khan '92
and Imran Khan '9 1 , a son,
Layth, in September 2000.

To Margaret Doyle Bitz '92 and
husband, Andrew, a son, Connor
Patrick, on December 25, 2000.

To Jennifer Blenckstone Boyce
'92 and husband, E. Gillet, a
daughter, Grace Ann, on May
29, 2000.

Steve Attias '90 and
his wife, Elizabeth,
welcomed the arrival
of their son,
% Christopher Ben,
whom they adopted on
December 30, 2000.

To Keri Nygaard Mitchell '93 and
husband, David, a son, David III,
in September 2000.

To Amanda Burt Newell '93 and
Jonathan Newell *92, a son, Jacob
Gray, on March 27, 2001.

To WiU Brandenburg '93 M'95 and
wife, Chris, a daughter, Darby, on
April 6, 2001. Doug and Cathy
Same '92 are Darby's godparents.

To Doug and Catherilne Hoffberger

*94, a daughter, Charlotte Elm>Te
van Ogtrop, on March 7, 2001.

To Jennifer Bomfriend Day '94
and husband, Barr>', a daughter,
Alexandra Hope, on Februar>' 7,

2001.

To Andrew Parks '94 and his
wife, Loula, a son, Mathewson
Lee Wagner, on November 7,
2000. Mathewson joins big sister
GiUes, 3.

To CoUeena Wiseman Calhoun '99
and husband, Thomas, a daughter,
Nia Michelle, on Februan,- 26,
2001.

SUMMER-:OOI / WASHINGTON-COLLEGE- MAGAZINE

WWWWASHCOLLEDU

Walter Jr. (a.k.a. Bucky), 5, and
daughter, Charlotte, 2."

1990

DON DIEFENDORF

works as a physician's assistant
at Mercy Medical Center. He is
active in his church, where he
sings with the worship team and
serves on the vestry. He and
wife Jenny live in Reisterstown,
MD, where he is a paramedic
with the Reisterstown Fire
Company.

VINCENT MAXIMO

is an assistant vice president at
MBNA America and reports
that his work requires frequent
trips to the U.K. and Ireland.
He was invited to play in the
2000 National World Team
Tennis Tournament hosted hy
tennis legend Billie Jean King.
After he and his teammates won
the Delaware Valley sectional,
they went on to wm the east re-
gional, finally finishing third in
the nation. Vince reports that
he and his teammates are on the
way to play the 2001 east re-
gional again with hopes of ad-
vancing to the national tourna-
ment in 2001.

1991

MAnHEW GILLER

and his family li\e in Rye, NY,
where he is an OTC trader for
Morgan Stanley in NYC. He'd
love to hear from all Sho'men
classmates, so e-mail him at
mjgiller@yahoo.com.

LIAM KENNEDY

is a reference librarian at Shep-
herd College in Shepherdstown,
WV Liam is glad to he back in
the Baltimore/ Washington re-
gion after three years at the
University of Southern Missis-
sippi.

JEFFREY W. VAIL'S

book, The Literary Relationship of
Lord Byron and Thomas Moore,
was published by The Johns
Hopkins University' Press in No-
vember 2000. Jeff received his
doctorate from the University of
Delaware in 1998 and teaches at
Boston University.

1992

KARYN lACANGELO KERRIS

reports that she is really ill at
this time and would love to re-

ceive e-mails/letters from old
schoolmates. Please contact her
at 8938 Footed Ridge, Colum-
bia, MD 21045, or by e-mail at
kkll6w@nih.gov.

TODD KAGLER

is ditector ot manufacturing for
Bindagraphics, Inc., the fifth
largest book manufacturer in the
U.S. He lives in Cockeysville,
MD, with his wife, Vicky, and
their two children. Heather and
Michael.

DAVID SNYDER

lives in Kenya, where he does
media relations for an interna-
tional relief and development
agency. He spends his ftee time
"avoiding car jackers, not learn-
ing Swahili, and wondering why
the British ne\'er installed street
lights while they were here." He
would love to receive e-mail
ftom former classmates at
Dsnyder@crs-ert.or.ke

1993

SARA BOGGESS MEINSLER

is a social worker at Oak Crest
Village Retirement Commimity
in ParkviUe, MD.

GEOFFREY DONAHUE

is the new harardous materials
coordinator for the Maryland
Emergency Management
Agency. Feel free to e-mail him
atUSAR29@aol.com

1994

CHANDEV ABHAYARATNE

IS the CEO of a pre-paid phone
card company in Sri Lanka. His
company is the leader in pre-
paid international calling cards,
and also operates a network of
wireless pay phone booths in
major cities in Sri Lanka. His
son, Chetan, is six months old.

ANNA HERRMANN

and partner James Marlowe
have opened a custom tattooing
boutique, "Comes A Time," in
Fairfax City, VA. Anna is a
body piercer as well as a tattoo
artist. Anna's Washington Col-
lege diploma IS displayed promi-
nently on the wall of her studio,
where it adds distinction to the
stylish, upscale decor the artists
have created. They work by ap-
pointment and can be reached
at 703-383-0699.

ANDREW PARKS

li\es m Bell Buckle, TN, where
he is athletic director at The
Webb School.

1996

MARK REYERO

IS employed as a Cisco Sales En-
gineei with GE Capital IT Solu-
tions. He designs and imple-
ments high-end networking so-
lutions. He is currently a Cisco
Certified Network Professional,
Cisco Certified Design Profes-
sional and Microsoft Certified
Professional. Mark has been ac-
cepted into GE's Fast Track
Cisco Certified Internetworking
Expert (CCIE) training pro-
gram. Upon completion ot the
program in late 2001, he hopes
to pass a grueling two-day CCIE
lab exam and become one of
5,000 CClEs worldwide. In his
"spare" time, Mark ser\'es as the
Annapolis Alumni Chapter
president. He plans to run in the
Marine Corps Marathon in Oc-
tober and would enjoy hearing
from any other WC alumni
planning to run.

ROBIN WOOLLENS BRUBAKER

li\'es in West Laun, P.\, with
her husband, Chad, who teaches

high school English. Robin
works with Operation Head
Start as a health specialist and
registered nurse. "E-mail us at
rob@early.com."

1997

TANAE COATES

is a conectional officer at
Maryland's "Supermax," the
Maryland Conectional Adjust-
ment Center, and the mother of
five-month-old Joseph Isaiah
Markei. She hopes to see every-

MAHHEW MULLIN

splits his time between the
Chesapeake and the Teton
moimtains. "fores-er searching
for the answer."

PAULA LINK NEWSOME

wTites, "The Na\7 has moved its
again! My husband is now sta-
tioned at NAS North Island,
and we are lu'ing in San Diego.
Noah is almost 1 8 months old,
and we spend our days enjoying
the warmth of southern Califor-
nia."

1998

BRADLEY CRATE

li\'es in New York City, where

At Reunion 2001. Heather Donovan Phillips '91 (lett) Introduces her
daughter Kiersten to Leigh Ann Gay '91 .

WASHINGTON- COLLEGE-M.^GAZINE / SUMMER-

MARRIAGES

Sara Boggess '93 to Tim Meinsler on December 9,
2000. Jen Sloan DiPaula '93, Sharon Davis Bro-
gan '93, Brigid DeVries Morahan '93 and Julie Dill
'93 were members of the wedding party.

Jill Schultz '96 to Matt Distler '96 on September

2, 2000.

Beth Knieriem '92 to MacGregor Tlsdale on May
20, 2000. Margaret Doyle Bitz '92, Karen Brady
Graham '92 and Chris Graham *94 attended the
wedding; Kristy Hilgartner Cummings '92 and
Jennifer Jaeger '92 were members of the bridal
party.

Marcia Mowbray '95 and Andrew Evans '94 (right)
were married on November 4, 2000. Kristen
Nemecek '98 was in the wedding party.

Hilary Rainey '98 and Paul Kenny '97 were married on March 10, 2001 in Chester Heights, PA. Members of
the bridal party were Jessica Rainey '99, Gene Vassal '97 and Megan Miller '98. Dermot Quigley '99 was
soloist. Alumni in attendance were Fredl Kanther '98. Brad Crate '98, Chris Camillo '97, Jen HIggins '99, Tim
Pilarski '97, Tyler Benedum '98. Ben Harris '98, Lee Ann Lezzer '97. Chris Douma '00. Bradd Burkhart '98,
Maggy Kilroy '00, Katie Dell '98, Joe McDonald '98, Barbaranna Mocella '98, Megan Miller '98, Robyn
Cartsensen '97, Matt King '98, Mike Hinkle '98, Julie Larosa '00, Jamie Stumpf '98, Brian Tipton '96, Brian
Hopkins '99. Derek Cuft '97, Lanae Arnold 01 , Meggan Smith '98, Kris Murphy '94, Craig Flury '96, Jen
Hanifee '96, Joe Burke '98, Matt Hanifee 00, Nicole Jones '99, Mat Newkirk '97, Mary Ryan O'Hara '98 and
Charlotte Stephenson '97.

he is an interest rate derivatives
trader for JPMorgan Chase.

ELIZABETH DOPPLER

completed her master's degree in
clinical psychology' and is pursu-
ing her Ph.D. at Suffolk Univer-
sity- in Boston.

1999

STACY V. LARKIN

IS a planner/buyer tor Aether
Systems, the country's leading
wireless application provider.
She recently purchased a new
house with close friend and
roommate Heather Pyrik '99 in
New Town, Owings Mills, MD.
Stacy spends her free time train-
ing her golden retriever, Dudley,
for the Canine Olympics' ob-
stacle course race.

BRETT GABA

is a fitness instructor on Kent Is-
land, MD. He and his room-
mate, John Basedow, also a fit-
ness guru, own two Shar-Peis
named Squeeze and Release.

JOHN "J.T" CUNIC

graduated in May from Idaho
State UniversitN' with a master's
of education degree in human
resource management. He plans
to spend the summer traveling
the West and then enroll in an
MBA program at Southwest
Missouri State Uni\'ersity.

2000

CHARIEST "CHAD • DEAN III

served on the Carolme County
Democratic Central Committee
as the youngest elected official
in the State of Maryland.

MICHAEL STORKE

is working on his master's degree
at the Unix'ersity of Delaware,
where he is the assistant coach
of the women's rowing team.

MASTERS

1976

PATRICIA MARSHALL
SCHWANINGER

is lixiking forward to her first
visit back to Washington Col-
lege in 65 years. She mmed 85
in June.

SUMMER-

I ; \V A S H I N O T O N ■ C O L L E C E ■ M A a A Z I N E

www W A S H C O L L E D U

1985

JOHN WHEELER

bought a farm and recently re-
turned from a five-week visit to
the Philippines.

1992

DAVE SEARLES

worked as a park ranger at the
Harry S Truman National His-
toric Site last summer and plans
to serve as a park ranger again.
He continues to work to pre-
serve and protect the en\'iron-
ment and our national heritage
through the Ecotopian Society-
and the American Heritage
Service. I

I N

Dr. I. Benson Allen *30, an op-
tometrist for 40 years, died on
February 19, 2001.

Arlene Gale McLain '33 died on
September 17, 2000.

William E. Burkhardt '34 died on
March 15, 2001. He was a
teacher, coach and principal in
Delaware and Maryland until re-
tiring in 1972. He was elected to
the Orphans Court of Cecil
County, MD, where he served as
Chief Judge. A past member of
the election board of Cecil
County, he also was active in the
Cecil County Teachers' Associa-
tion, the Elkton Lions Club, the
Elkton Elks Lodge and the Cecil
County Historical Society. He
contributed a chapter on the
"History of Cecil County" to
Charies Clark '34's History of the
Eastern Shore of Maryland and
Virginia*

Marie Regester Peet '37, a life-
long teacher, died on March 1,
2001.

Phihp A. Hickman Jr. '38, a
Navy veteran of World War II,

Jen Jefferson '91 and
Jacque Collins Kilduff '91
could not attend tfieir ten-
year reunion: liowever. they
made the effort to celebrate
Ttie two raised a toast to the
class of 1991 from Belgium
where Jen spent a week in ^^

May with Jacque. They had
a great time talking about
the 'old " days while
creating some fabulous new
memories. "Hello to
everyone, especially our
former roomie Michelle
Darling."

M E M O R I A

died on March 9, 2001. He
joined Joseph E. Seagrams as a
chemist after graduation and re-
tired in 1982. Hickman was a
member of the Rotary and
Kiwanis clubs.

Edward Turner '38 died June 7,
1997. He is survived by his son,
David M '77.

Milton F.V. Glock '40 died on
April 16, 2001. His wife, Betty,
expressed her thanks to the Col-
lege for the pride he felt in being
a Washington College graduate
and for the years of friendship
with his fellow I.ambda Chi Al-
pha brothers and other students.

Frederick H. Poughkeepsie '42
died on August 8, 2000.

Norma Murray Shores '42 died
on March 16, 2001. She was a
social worker for the Somerset
County (MD) Department of So-
cial Services and retired from the
operations division of Peninsula
Bank. She was a member of the
Ladies Auxiliary of O.T.
Beauchamp Post 94 American
Legion.

Margaret Ann Fenderson, LCDR,
USN (Ret.) '43 died on August
5, 2000. She entered the Navy in
1943 and, until 1946, served as
the Coding Board officer in the
cryptography section, which was
responsible for breaking the Japa-
nese code in World War II. She
re-entered the Navy during the
Korean War, serving as an officer
in the cryptography branch at the
Navy Security Station from 1950
until 1952, when she retired.

Jane Harte Haley '46 died March

4, 2001.

Kirby L. Smith '48, the Kent &
Queen Anne's chapter president
of the Alumni Coimcil, died on
February 5, 2001. He was a
member of the Rotary Club, the
Historical Society and Christ
United Methodist Church. He is
survived by his wife, Peggy
Benton Smith '46.

Howard C. Nesbitt '48 died De-
cember 23, 2000. He was a re-
tired professor from Morehead
State University and the Univer-
sity of Southern Mississippi.

Robert Adelbert Hungerford '50
of Murphy, NC, died on January

20, 2000. A World War 11 vet-
eran, '*Del" worked as project
manager for the ApoUo Project.
In retirement, he served as
president of the Ranger Volun-
teer Fire Department and Presi-
dent of the Cherokee Fire Chief
Association.

Mary Church Westerdahl '61
died on February 19, 2001.

Myron H. "Mike" Causey '57
died on December 23, 2000.
He served two terms as presi-
dent of the Salisbury (MD)
Pony League and was active
with the Salvation Army Boys
Club. Mike served on the Board
of Trustees of the Asbury
United Methodist Church in
Mt. Vernon, MD, where he was
a Sunday school teacher.

Mary Sandra "Boo" Massengill
Vinci '62 died on February 3,
2001.

Carolyn S. Cridler-Smith '66
died on February 2, 2001.

Judy Lynn Bowles '90 died July
6, 2000.

■ ipji I'mui^imii^xaMMflR

■

WASHINGTON-COLLEGE- M.AG A ZINE / SUMMER

CURRENTS

Doing Justice To The Past:
Living Ubuntu

by Dennis Wilson '01

In January of 1993 Amy
Biehl, a determined
young woman of 25 years,
traveled to South Africa in
those alluring and precipi-
tous days when the apartheid
state stood on the brink of
implosion and a new, experi-
mental democracy was poised
to rise from its ashes. A
Fulbright Scholar, Biehl was
making the trip to study the
role ot women in the nego-
tiations that would lead to
the chartering ot what is now
heralded as "the world's most
liberal constitution." Know-
ing that South African
women faced multiple forms
of discrimination, Biehl was
committed to an exhaustive
study ot the political and so-
cial effects of gender and
democratic transition.

Four months later, how-
ever, Biehl's mission came to
a tragic end. Amidst the lo-
calized and often indiscrimi-
nate disorder that pervaded
South Africa during that tur-
bulent period, she was stoned
to death as she was driving
through an impoverished
township to drop off a friend.
Her lifelong ambitions re-
mained as incomplete and
hazy as the story of violence
that led to her premature
death; it was known only that
her killing may have been
precipitated by a local man
urging his neighbors to attack
any whites in the township.

From the fatal trajectory

of those misbegotten stones,
however, came a monumen-
tal act of atonement that was
to signify the most hopeful
elements of South Africa's
struggle for democracy and
reconciliation. In an effort to
perpetuate the dreams of
their daughter, Peter and
Linda Biehl established the
Amy Biehl Foundation and,
later, the Youth on Violence
Foundation, both directed at
exploring the lasting effects
of apartheid and its relation
to widespread youth violence
and disenfranchisement in
South African townships.
These foundations work from
a holistic view of rehabilita-
tion, incorporating educa-
tion, sports, arts and employ-
ment, and they are largely
self-sustaining. They are fi-
nanced in part through a
baking trust that provides
much-needed food and en-
trepreneurial experience to
the people of the townships.

Peter and Linda Biehl
spend their time traveling be-
tween South Africa and the
United States, working to
provide direction in the
townships and raise awareness
of South Africa's situation
abroad. This April, the Biehls
visited Washington College
to discuss a concept that has
played a vital role in their
own lives and in the lite ot
South Africa's maturing de-
mocracy— the concept of
ubuntu, or restorative justice.

Ubuntu is a concept of
justice unfamiliar to many
modem non-African societ-
ies. It implies a system of jus-
tice based on mutual recon-
ciliation. To give a simplified
example: one man has stolen
another man's goat. When
his act is discovered, he is
asked to return the goat and
to loan an additional goat to
the victim's family to make
up for lost resources. More
importantly, he is expected
to reach an understanding
with the victim's family — to
honestly explain his actions
and to atone with his neigh-
bors. In this way, the cycle of
communal hostility is halted.

The implications of
ubuntu, of course, go further
than goats and local commu-
nities. Although the ubuntu
system of justice has yet to
be incorporated into the
court systems, its framework
has been applied to the
nation's struggle to move on
toward an inclusive future.
The Truth and Reconcilia-
tion Committee (TRC) is
the embodiment of this at-
tempt— it allows for perpe-
trators (black and white) ot
apartheid-related crimes to
be granted diplomatic immu-
nity and freedom from im-
prisonment. The main re-
quirement? A tuU confession
before the committee, the
victim's relatives and,
through the press, the world
community. Through these
open confessions, these open
discussions of pain and mis-
understanding, it is hoped
that the people ot South At-
tica will come together to
reach a common ground and
understanding.

It is a system not without

complications. It is impos-
sible to ensure personal or
national reconciliation
through law. Many disagree
with the mission of the
TRC, unhappy that it allows
known criminals to re-enter
the community. Also, experi-
ments such as the TRC face
hardships as a new genera-
tion rises to maturity: a gen-
eration that has nothing to
reconcile with but a foreign
and unfamiliar past.

Such is the nature of the
ubuntu system, howe\er, that
its successes are not wit-
nessed through theory' or
pedagogy. The fruitions of
ubuntu are seen only in the
hearts ot those whose lives it
has affected. Linda and Peter
Biehl testify- to the character
of this statement. Eight years
after the death of their
daughter, they work hand-in-
hand with two very unlikely
community' activists — two of
the four men charged with
the murder of their daughter.
The Biehls attest that there
is no hostility among the
four of them, who have suc-
ceeded in living ubuntu.
Having realized an
unquantifiable loss and trav-
eled halhvay across the world
to reconcile with that loss,
the Biehls have determined
to give back to the system of
ubuntu what it has given
them — an opportunity to
generate understanding and
forgiveness across sometimes
impossible boundaries. I

Dt'iinis Wikoji '01 . a history
major, spent a semester on aca'
demic exchange at Rhodes L/ni-
versity in South Africa. He in-
tends to become a teacher.

i U M M E R -

; 0 0 I / «' A S H I N G T O N - C O L L E O E ■ M .^ O A Z I N E

COLLEGE

EVENTS

July 2-27

August 27

September 15

October 18

"From Moses to Jack Welch:

Classes begin.

Chestertown Candlelight

Christopher Tilghman,

Portraits of Leadership in

Tour of historic homes, in-

Author of The Pull of the

Western Culture." Alumni

September 6

cluding the College's

Land. Hynson Lounge, time

Online Seminar taught by

Fall Convocation, Tawes

Hynson-Ringgold House and

TBD.

Michael Harvey, assistant

Theatre, 7 p.m. Singer Eddy

Custom House, 5 p.m.

professor of business manage-

Arnold and outgoing Chair-

October 26

ment.

man of the Board of Visitors

September 18

Poet Heather McHugh read-

and Governors Louis Clifford

Harwood Colloquy, with

ing from her work. Sophie

July 12

Schroeder are honorees.

panelists Mark Shields and

Kerr Room, Miller Library,

George Washington inter-

Paul Gigot. Moderated by

4 p.m.

preter to talk on the life and

September 8

John Harwood. Hynson

times of the nation's first

14th Annual Flea Market

Lounge, 7 p.m.

October 27

president. Norman James

benefiting the Kent &.

Fall Family Day.

Theatre, 1 p.m.

Queen Anne's Chapter's

September 20

Bookstore Scholarship Fund.

John Hanson Mitchell,

December 7-8

July 14

Campus lawn, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.

author of Inventing Place.

Renaissance Christmas

Chester River Swim for Life.

Hynson Lounge, time TBD.

Dinner, Hynson Lounge.

The 10th Annual Chester

September 14 & 15

For ticket information call

River Swim benefits the Bal-

Board of Visitors and Gover-

September 22

(410) 778-7875.

timore and Eastern Shore

nors on campus.

Alumni Council meeting.

area HIV support groups.

August 21

Freshman Assembly. Presi-

dent John Toll and Provost

Joachim Scholz welcome

freshmen and their families.

Tawes Theatre, 2 p.m.

For a monthly calendar of even

ts, contact the special events

coordinator at 1-800-422-1782

, ext. 7849.

For news, scores and campus ei

/ent information, visit our

Web site at www.washcoll.edu.

Visit the Washington College N

[agazine online at

http://magazine.washcoll.edu.

Washington College Magazine

Volume XLIX No. 3 mi

Summer 2001 ■»•

USPS 667-260

Washington College:

person

When either of this pair of international stud-
ies majofs comes across an opportunity to learn
or experience something new, she usually
jumps in and then encourages her twin to try it,
too. Whether they opted for the Summer Semi-
nar In Cuba (each did, in succeeding years), a
USAID Internship in India (Bridget), or a semes-
ter abroad in the London program (Gretchen),
they both understood the value of immersing
themselves in cultures different from the|' own.
"India truly changed me," Bridget says, y ' ^

Next fall, the two Washington Scholars will
spend a semester at the University of
' Copenhagen in Denmark, learning a new lan-
guage, studying Danish politics and traveling
. , through Europe. It might be their last opportu-
yjiity to spend quality time together. ■wv,

Still, they never intended to go to the same
school, or even to major in the same field.
Gretchen switched her major when she saw that
Bridget's program of choice offered so many
more options. With the support of the Margaret
Bennett Fund, international studies majors can
afford to take advantage of State Departme"'
and USAID internships as well as other
and travel abroad opportunities.

"Because there are so many prog
able to a relatively small ^number]
you can do anything you want," s
"There's nothing holding you bad

^"^4 ^H^

PHOTO: MELISS*«iliMEs'GUY

BRIDGET AND GRETCHEN PURCELL '02

Today, each other. Tomorrow, the world.

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